Safe and Sound
by ninadobsession
Summary: 1800s, AU Elena Gilbert is ready to start an incredible life with her fiance Stefan. But as the wedding approaches, the secrets begin to pile up. Most intriguing is the mysterious elder brother, Damon, who seems to forever be complicating every situation.
1. Chapter 1: The Moon

**Hi everybody! This is my first fanfiction ever, so I really hope this isn't absolute trash. I'll include the full summary since there's such a small limit below. ****I will say up front that this was completely spur of the moment. Inspiration is weird like that… Anyways this is just the first chapter. I'm really interested in seeing this through, but I need feedback _please. _Please tell me if you want to see more of it. If you were to even send me a message about it, I would love you forever. If you have any questions, please be sure to ask me. Also, I'm aware that I'm taking a few liberties when it comes to the time period, so if that's too distracting let me know. You can also go to my tumblr ninadobsession to see more of my writings if you love the show as much as I do. Rated M for later chapters.**

**P.S. The Abington thing will be explained, but only if you guys tell me to finish :)**

* * *

><p><strong>Synopsis: 1800s, Elena Gilbert is ready to start an incredible life with her fiance Stefan. But as the wedding approaches and Stefan's family arrives, the secrets begin to pile up. Most intriguing is the mysterious elder brother, Damon, who seems to forever be complicating every situation. Elena's simple fairy tale is quickly crumbling apart as everything she believed to be true is losing its validity. Where do you go for comfort when everything that once provided it is now a lie?<strong>

* * *

><p>Chapter 1: The Moon<p>

_Cut the bonds with the moon_  
><em>And watch the dogs gather<em>

Elena Rose Gilbert and Stefan Michael Abington. Mrs. Stefan Michael Abington. Elena Rose Abington. Lena Rose Abington. Lena Abington. It sounded so good. So perfect. It sounded well-off. Granted, she'd been blessed with a birth name that indicated class, but Abington made her sound like the women in the North or in England. Abington. She could almost sense the heat of jealousy running from her acquaintances.

The whole plantation had seemed to both slow down and speed up when the engagement was announced. Obviously with such a large merger of families and acquisitions the whole plantation, slaves and masters alike, seemed to have gained the energy of new-born puppies, constantly racing to complete tasks that didn't need o be finished for another 3 months. But somehow, time seemed to slow down to a sluggish pace. All Lena had wanted to do was run into Stefan's arms and beg him to speed up the huge ticking clock in the foyer. After being told countless times how wonderful her life would be once the marriage was consecrated, she could hardly contain her impatience.

Yet somehow, underlying all that eagerness, was a young girl asking for everything to just take a breath and pause. Lena would catch herself in one of the superfluous bedrooms, staring out the window towards the horizon just contemplating. Once she found herself leaning against the panes, the color would instantly rise to her cheeks and she would whip her neck around, praying that no slave had entered to dust or replace the sheets. If this occurred, she would fake a headache and dizziness, pretend to be the helpless damsel every one saw her to be. Whoever had entered upon the room would sympathize and blame the Southern heat, leading "Miss Elena" back to her cool bedroom, another following quickly behind with some iced tea and a light snack. Yet somehow, Lena seemed to get more heated, no matter how many icy cloths were placed on her forehead.

She felt silly whenever she thought about it. She had just gotten over the constant madness she felt when she was a teenager. Why did this rush of emotions always occur?

"Ellie!" Lena whipped her head around from her position in the living room and let a huge grin escape. Her baby sister bounded into the room, with a ripped and muddied dress, streaks of dirt painting her face. Mary was completely wild, always going from one thing to the next, coming out at the end of the day with a torn dress, an injury, or both. She was practically a little boy. She also was the only one that called her Ellie. She'd always had difficulty with pronouncing the L's, so it typically sounded more like "Ehwee." Lena only allowed her sister to refer to her as Ellie, as it made her feel a bit childish. Secretly, Lena wasn't all too thrilled with the shortening of her real name either. Lena also seemed too young, but people, Stefan included, had always referred to her without the "e," so she dropped it as well.

"Mary, stay right there," Lena warned, grabbing the young girl's arms before the dirt and filth could come any where near her own dress. "Oh my goodness, you've just become an absolute tyrant these days. How ever will Mother marry you off?" Lena asked with a large grin on her face.

Mary's nose crinkled quickly with disgust. "Eww, no. Ehwee, you're the one getting married. Not me! I'm never going to get married."

Lena smiled, and patted her sister's matted hair. "Oh, really? Well, what will you do instead, my darling?"

"I'm going to join the Confederacy!" her sister screamed. She then proceeded to begin marching around the room as Lena began to laugh hysterically, clutching her corseted sides.

"Girls!" Mary and Lena quickly whipped their heads around and turned silent. Their mother, Miranda, was standing in the door frame, arms raised in a shocked manner. "I could hear you all the way outside!"

Lena quickly stood as Mary slowly straightened out of her playful position in the rear of the room. "Sorry Mama," they both solemnly stated.

Miranda's serious face quickly turned into a smirk as she glanced down at her youngest. "Goodness gracious, what will I do with the two of you? I swear, I gave birth to monkeys, not ladies."

Mary looked confused. "Ehwee's a lady, Mama."

"Well, yes now she's become respectable. But," Miranda said, bending down to Mary's level, "she was as wild as you are when she was your age." Mary's eyes turned as wide as saucers as Miranda chuckled. "Now, let's make you presentable before our company arrives."

"Company, Mama, it's just Stefan," Lena said. "He has seen Mary in much worse states."

Miranda stood back up to Lena's height. "Don't you remember? Stefan's entire family will be joining us for the next few weeks..."

Lena tried to appear calm as her mother rambled about the newest guests on the plantation and all of the troubles that came along with housing them, but she was frantically searching her brain in attempts at remembering this information. Surely Stefan would have mentioned this to her. She had yet to meet Stefan's family, surprising considering the traditions of marriage, but Stefan was extremely independent of his family, managing to run multiple town businesses and create a fortune and life for himself outside of the family name, all before the age of 25. He had sought after Lena all on his own, with very little mention of his family. It was one of the primary reasons Lena had felt so drawn to him. As a woman who was so dependent on her own family, the idea that someone could be so successful and well-off without them was incredibly appealing.

Suddenly Lena's train of thought was quickly interrupted by her mother's sentence. "… and I'm sure Stefan will help to entertain his brother somehow."

"His brother?" Lena stumbled over her own words. "Stefan only has one sibling, a sister."

Miranda cocked her head at her daughter's confused face. "Stefan's father's letter explicitly stated that he would be bringing both of his children, a daughter, Alexis, and a son, Damon."

Lena instinctively brought her hand to her neck to play with the pendant resting against her collarbone, one of her few nervous habits. A brother? Why would Stefan purposely choose not to mention that he had a brother?

* * *

><p>Lena leaned against the stiff wood frames of one of her favorite stables. The lofted ceilings had provided plenty of places to crawl and explore when she was Mary's age. She smiled to herself as she thought about her mother's statement earlier. She had been wild, constantly getting injured but forever sleeping well at night after hours of rambunctious play.<p>

After the nostalgia faded, the anxiety came back strong. Why would Stefan choose to blatantly not tell her about a brother? Especially one that was going to be staying on the plantation for almost two months. Stefan constantly mentioned his sister, Alexis. Most of his childhood stories revolved around the two siblings' antics. Whenever Stefan spoke of his family, he kept her in high regard, never quite able to keep the small grin off his face.

She knew Stefan was not close to his family, but it seemed a tad absurd to completely remove someone that important from the family lineage. As her mind wandered, she missed the telltale footsteps of her soon-to-be husband.

"There's my girl. Always lost in thought." Lena could feel her entire face light up as Stefan approached her. He was dressed in a travel suit, but still looked gorgeous, especially in the sunlight.

"Just thinking about all the other men in town who want me," Lena grinned. "Maybe I should leave you for one of the Parker boys."

Stefan gave a light growl and rushed her back into the side of the stable. Lena smiled as their lips met for the first time in over two weeks. She'd always felt particularly naughty for as far as she'd gone with Stefan. Nothing too obscene, of course. She was a lady after all. Yet she was sure her mother would faint if she knew just how long some of these kissing sessions had lasted.

Stefan leaned back to brush a strand of her curly black hair behind her ear. "Promise me you'll never leave me for a Parker. Anybody but a Parker."

"Only if you promise me you'll never leave me like that again." Lena added a tinge of whine to her words. "I can't bear to stay this far apart for so long."

"Well, I can't promise that," Stefan complied. Lena pouted her bottom lip and Stefan let out a laugh. "But you have me here, completely present for the next few months. We have a wedding to plan out."

"Oh, hush. You know you are not allowed any where near the planning of this wedding."

"And why not, may I ask?"

"Because women can have very few accomplishments in this world, and one of those is the perfect wedding. And I refuse to let my husband aid me in any way possible with the one thing I could be great at."

Stefan smiled and kissed her again. "I love when you call me your husband."

As though someone had turned a switch off in her head, her flirtatious personality disappeared and Lena was only concerned with one thing: finding out the truth. She softly pushed Stefan out of her personal space and tried hard not to look at his disappointed face. "We need to discuss something very important.

"What is it, my love?"

Lena contemplated how she had wanted to bring this up, but chose to be direct instead. "You have a brother?"

She made sure to watch Stefan's reaction as he registered exactly what he had just heard. Lena watched him go from shock to anger to sadness. But finally, his face became blank. He made eye contact with Lena again and swallowed hard. "Yes. How did you find out about him?"

That simple answer almost hurt Lena more. Was she not supposed to be hurt by this? He was trying hard to show no emotion, yet she could see the deep pain in his eyes. She felt almost guilty for bringing it up. "Your father's letter…"

Stefan interrupted her quickly. In an extremely stiff voice, he said, "The only reason I did not tell you about my brother was because he is as good as dead to me and my family."

Lena's eyebrows knotted together in confusion. "Then why will he be staying with us?"

Stefan's head shot up from its former position of staring straight as his shoes. "Damon… is coming here?" Stefan quickly began to pace around the stable. Lena was worried. She'd almost never seen Stefan act this concerned, this scared.

"Is he.. dangerous?" she murmured. Her words seemed to snap Stefan out of his lapse in character. He rushed back over to her and delicately grabbed her chin so she would look him in the eye.

"Of course not." His typical soothing voice was back. "I 'm so sorry I made you upset. It's just… Damon hurt my family a very long time ago. I was not aware that a truce had been made. I'm sure that my father would not have allowed Damon to join them if he was a threat to you or anyone else."

Lena gave a small smile to Stefan which he returned, mostly in the efforts of placating her. "What did he do, if I may ask?"

Stefan sighed and looked down at the ground quickly before looking back into her dark eyes. "He left my family in a time when we needed him most. He choose to abandon all of us in our despair for his own selfish desires." A spark of fire rose in Stefan's eyes when he spoke those last few words.

Lena kissed Stefan's cheek, attempting to calm any leftover anger. "Everything will be okay. If Damon has not changed, this time will be perfect to show him just how far you've come without him. I won't expect you to spend any extra time with him if you do not desire to do so."

"I don't need to be coddled, Lena," Stefan said. "I can act civilly with my brother. Just don't expect much more than that."

Stefan kissed her one last time and leaned back to examine her once again. "Let us diverge from this. I don't care to speak of unhappy things. Would you like to accompany me for a walk?" He offered his arm in her direction.

Lena swiftly took it and met his eyes with a wide smile as they exited the stable. Her head was filled with all of the stories she had to catch him up on from the last few weeks and new ideas for the ceremony. But as he began to tell a story about his travels back home, she couldn't help but to reflect on the emotion in his eyes when they had stepped out. They were a shade of deep dark black that she could only describe as evil.

* * *

><p>Lena stood on the porch steps holding Stefan's arm. Her anxiety was almost completely gone as she watched the carriage pull up their long driveway. Stefan's stories from the road and his laughter at her own reminded her again why she should be the happiest woman in the world. Marrying her true love, well, it didn't happen often in her world.<p>

Mary, who had been bathed and cleaned up quite well, was now fidgeting in her tight and constricting dress. She couldn't stand not being able to run and staying still was one of her least favorite past times. Lena giggled and nudged Stefan to gain his attention. When he turned to look at her, she subtly nodded her head down so he could appreciate the humorous moment with her. He granted her a courteous smile, but his face quickly shifted back to the strained calmness he had been showing since one of the staff had mentioned his family had arrived. Lena rubbed his arm in a soothing fashion but Stefan didn't seem to be comforted by his fiancée's touch.

Once the carriage pulled up, Lena took a deep breath as Stefan's muscles tensed as though he were preparing to be hit. The first to step out was Stefan's father. He was a tall, average-sized man who looked eerily like Stefan. He had the same coloring and polite smile. She turned to gauge Stefan's reaction. He had a wide grin on his face and all of the tension had seemingly faded. Interesting, Lena thought. She had always sensed tension when Stefan mentioned his father but that seemed to be completely gone now.

Next, his father helped out a stunning blonde woman who must have been Alexis. Stefan's grin grew even wider. Lena had expected that reaction though. Stefan quickly crossed the porch to embrace the young girl and also to give a polite "man-hug" to his father. Lena and her mother and sister began to descend down the porch steps as Stefan turned back.

"Father, Alexis, this is my Lena," Stefan stated proudly. Lena smiled and offered her hand to the father and daughter. "It's a pleasure meeting you finally."

The older Abington took her hand and placed a kiss upon it. "The pleasure is all mine."

Alexis and Lena exchanged a nodding of heads as form of greeting. "Stefan has told me so much about you in his letters. I feel as though I know everything about you and nothing about my brother."

As the other members of the family were introduced, Lena's eye caught a flash of black coming around the other side of the carriage. The infamous brother. When he had fully stepped onto their side, her breath caught in her throat. She had never in her life actually been startled by someone's looks, but there was a first time for everything. His dark black hair and piercing blue eyes were perfectly uncomplimentary to the other Abington men, with their light brown hair and green eyes.

She turned quickly back to Stefan to remind herself of the attractive man who was hers. But his entire demeanor had shifted. The man thrilled to see his family again was replaced with someone who looked like he was about to be put to death.

"Damon," Stefan acknowledged. Lena had no clue who just a name could sound like an insult, but Stefan had made it so. "It's been a while."

"Yes, it has been." Lena almost gasped out loud and then inwardly scolded herself. A _voice_ should never make her feel this way. _He_, the man that had been so cruel to her fiancé, should not have that sort of effect on her. She pledged to be only polite to Damon when her mother was present. In all other circumstances… well, she wasn't sure yet.

Interrupting the uncomfortable silence that followed Damon and Stefan's exchange, Miranda invited everyone inside. Lena sensed Stefan fall back and whisper something into his father's ear. She couldn't make out any of the words, but she was sure they were all to do with Damon.

* * *

><p>After a tea filled with polite, painful conversation, Lena had formed most of her opinions about Stefan's family. Giuseppe was kind, but a little distant. He never seemed fully into the conversations the family was having. Alexis, who had insisted that she preferred to be called Lexi, was extremely bubbly and helped at least to move the conversation along. Lena had noticed even more of her beauty sitting in such close proximity. It seemed almost unfair. Lena was also thankful that Lexi had helped Stefan come out of his earlier state. The big smile on his face and his laughter as they reminisced put Lena much more at ease. Thankfully, the prior discomfort between the brothers had lessened greatly, as both talked near equally, and even laughed somewhat. Lena wasn't sure exactly what this meant for the rest of the family's stay but her optimistic attitude allowed her to believe that if they could get through that first tea, they could handle the next few weeks.<p>

* * *

><p>After tea, the ladies excused themselves to show Lexi around the plantation. Giuseppe, Stefan, and Damon stayed silent on the couches, none wanting to be the first to speak.<p>

Damon decided to go first. "I shouldn't be here. I'm not welcome."

"I agree," Stefan said, looking up at his older brother.

Giuseppe pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep sigh. "Boys, Damon leaving is not the solution to our issues."

"No, Father. The solution to our issues is Damon not coming here in the first place." Stefan stood up and ran his hands through his hair, finally releasing the pent-up frustration he'd kept inside all afternoon. "When did you determine that Damon was forgiven and a part of this family again?"

"I never said he was, Stefan. But Damon has come back into my and Alexis' life and I thought it was appropriate that he be here for your marriage," Giuseppe obliged.

"Brother," Damon said somewhat meekly. "You must realize I have no intentions of being a threat to any part of your life here. I know you believe I have nothing but malicious intent for you, but that is simply not true. Father has told me all about your work and your new life and although I may not understand it, I accept it."

"You're right, Damon. You would not understand my new life. But that's only because you chose not to be a part of it. You left when we were at our lowest point. You forced Alexis to take care of me and Father while you went off to do whatever you wanted." Stefan's voice rose the more he spoke.

Damon's politeness was gone as he stood to face his brother. "You know Alexis was perfectly capable of handling the two of you. But she shouldn't have had to take care of the both of you in the first place. You've spent years trying to make sure any blame on the Salvatore name was placed on me. Just because you chose not to control yourselves doesn't mean you were the victims in this situation."

"Enough!" shouted Giuseppe. "This argument has been had far too many times and nothing good has come out if it. All of us have made mistakes. But for the first time in decades, we're all doing well. I don't care if you two choose to hate each other for the rest of your lives, but I rarely get a chance to do anything normal anymore. So you two will start behaving like men, and act like this is the best damn you're having. After this, Alexis and I will let you and Elena live happily ever after and I will let you do… well whatever it is that you choose to do."

Damon stepped away from his brother and after a breath, nodded his head at both of them. He then offered his hand to Stefan to shake on it. Stefan accepted it, and as he shook realized Damon was slipping him a small papery object. When they released, Stefan casually slipped his hand into his pocket to drop the slip of paper discretely. Damon then left to head to his own room.

"I still don't quite understand your intentions, Father," Stefan said.

Giuseppe smirked. "I want you to meet me later tonight, son, around eleven behind the servant's quarters. We need to have a discussion." He began to leave the room, but then turned to pat his youngest on the shoulder. "After tonight, I think you'll understand my intentions perfectly."

After Mr. Salvatore exited the room, Stefan slowly pulled out the piece of paper from his brother. His handwriting had not changed a bit.

"Please meet me near the stables tonight at 11. I am here for a reason. Trust me."

Stefan crumbled up the note and stuffed it back into his pocket. He had not even hesitated when faced with the conflict. He knew exactly where he would be at eleven o'clock that night.


	2. Chapter 2: Stay

**OHmygoodness, so the support of this story has been incredible. Like, I've been absolutely blown away. I got almost 100 reads on the first day AND 5 reviews. Still completely shocked. Every time I've gotten an email saying somebody asked to be alerted on this story or (gasp) even favorited it, I almost peed my pants in excitement. Your sweet and encouraging words completely made me motivated to bring you an update a day earlier than planned. :)**

**I was really nervous starting this chapter because I wrote the first one over a YEAR. Yeah, I'm a psychopath. So, writing almost 3,000 words in two days was nerve wracking, but thankfully the writing gods were on my side because everything I was nervous about in this chapter seemed to just flow out of me. Not to proud of the writing in this one, but is a writer ever? This will definitely start the action off if you were bored last chapter.**

**I hope you guys get a few of your previous questions answered in this section. I want to update by Friday so if I haven't, feel free to message me and bother me about it :p. Once again, thank you, thank you, thank you.**

**P.S. I'm a shameless self-promoter. My tumblr is ninadobsession. :D**

* * *

><p>Chapter 2: Stay<p>

I'm so out of touch these days.

I act out in the wrong ways.

My mouth moves faster than my brain.

I've done you wrong, I've made mistakes.

You've seen the darkest side of me.

But please don't think of me that way.

Would it be too much to ask

To remember the girl who made you laugh?

Stay, stay, stay, stay.

Lena sat with her legs crossed up underneath her on a chaise with one of her favorite books. After the walk with Lexi and her mother, she was ready to escape from the new chaos that had been presented and just immerse herself into a completely different world. But apparently the world decided to not be that kind to her. For the large sitting room had a new intruder, a dark-haired man who violently walked towards a wall with his fist raised. He stopped himself before he could damage anything but the anger and frustration caused him to run a hand furiously through his hair, quite similar to his brother's own reaction earlier.

Damon did not notice the female presence in the room and was still incredibly upset. When he saw the stack of books, he had an almost out-of-body experience as he didn't realize he had shoved them to the floor until he heard a lilting voice behind him say, "Those books are worth hundreds."

He spun around quickly, breathing heavily. The young woman his brother had on his arm earlier was sitting in a position that would have been quickly scorned by her mother. Yet, she seemed to still look dainty. He must have looked confused, because she repeated herself. "The books you just gracelessly knocked to the floor are from the seventeenth century. They've been passed down in my family for decades."

"I-I'm so sorry," Damon stuttered. He quickly bent down to pick up the books and placed them back delicately on the table. "I d-don't believe they are damaged."

He noticed that although she was attempting to paint a face of distant suspiciousness, she in fact looked very afraid. She was clutching the book she was holding to her chest and her face was flushed. He realized that he had just showcased the Salvatore temper to a young lady who probably had never witnessed it. Stefan had always been better at keeping his emotions to himself.

He walked swiftly to her side and bent at the knee. She cowered a little away from him, but straightened back after realizing her action. "I am incredibly sorry you had to witness that. A lady like you should never have to see a man act so brutish."

"I agree," Lena complied. "Care to explain why you acted out?" She placed the book down in her lap and crossed her arms, waiting for a response.

"Well…" Damon paused. He wasn't quite sure how to address this. He was a quick liar, always had been, especially to beautiful women like the one facing him. But something compelled him to tell her the truth. As close as he could get to the truth, that is. "I'm sure you've realized I'm not exactly welcome here."

"You don't have to pretend with me," Lena said sharply. "Stefan has informed me that you hurt him and his family deeply. I have no desire for you to be here, but as a woman, I have very little choice in the matter. But I will inform you, I don't appreciate any sort of coddling simply because of gender. I recommend you treat me equally because I'm sure that if I were to report any wrongdoings to my fiancé he would not continue to play this game of fake politeness." She took a deep breath, in efforts to calm down from the sudden outburst. "Your options are to leave this room, and not speak to me at all for the rest of your stay, or to speak honestly and act as though I'm... any other man."

Damon was shocked. Never in his life has a woman talked to him this way. Not even his sister, whom he had had many mature conversations with. He wasn't offended as he should have been. In fact, he knew of many men who would have hit a woman for speaking that way. He was instead incredibly intrigued. "You are incredibly strong. I admire that."

Lena's mouth dropped a little and a blush crept over her cheeks. She obviously had not been expecting his answer. She quickly placed an unimpressed expression on her face and puffed up her chest as though preparing for battle. Damon had to actually exert effort to not look at the neckline of her dress and maintain eye contact.

"Well, my mother never treated me as though I could break at any second. She educated me and raised me with strong values. She refused to talk down to me or treat me like a child. She challenged me constantly and taught me to never be completely dependent on any man. I'm thankful for that. If she had not raised me that way, I would have to feign interest in you." She crossed her arms back over her chest with a defiant smirk.

Damon offered a smile back. "I'm sure my brother treats you in the same manner."

Lena's smirk faltered a bit. "Y-yes, of course he does," she managed to get out. Damon looked down in an attempt to hide his reaction. Obviously, she wasn't always too pleased with the way Stefan treated her. The spark came back quickly. "It's incredibly rude of you to insinuate otherwise."

"My apologies, ma'am," Damon stated. "But I have a condition to your prior offer."

Lena scoffed coyly. "I highly doubt I'll accept it, but I will entertain it out of pure curiosity."

"I will treat you with the same respect you deserve. No coddling, no talking down, no patronizing tones. But I refuse to refer to you by your pet name."

"Lena?" she inquired. "It's not a pet name, Damon. I've been referred to as Lena by everyone I've ever known since I was a child."

"Exactly," Damon retorted. "Since you were a child. There is a reason it was a childhood name. The name does not fit a beautiful _woman_. Therefore, I will only call you _Elena_. My question to you is if you'll respond to it."

Lena stayed completely still. Her face stayed calm, yet her eyes seemed to show a thousand different emotions at once. He couldn't seem to get over how incredible her eyes were. She took a deep breath, stood up, and addressed him. "Fine. But the permission has not been granted to call me beautiful." She then turned on her heel, leaving the worn copy of Wuthering Heights behind, and exited the room. The grin on Damon's face stayed there for a long time after she had left.

* * *

><p>Lena had quickened her speed hastily the second she was out of his burning eyesight. When she got to her room, she nearly slammed the door shut. She sat at her vanity and stared at her face in the mirror. She wanted to slap herself for what she saw.<p>

Her face was flushed and her heart was beating as it only did whilst horseback riding. She couldn't tell if the strands of hair had fallen out of her bun from her clumsy pace or the pace of the encounter she'd just had.

She'd never in her life had a conversation like that. It was terrifying, yet exhilarating at the same time. Yes, she knew those values were ingrained in her, but any time she had felt demeaned by a man, she had never spoken on it. And although she had been alarmed of her quick reaction at the time, the quick and clever exchange had required her to fight the smile on her face the entire time. The second she had reprimanded him, he had obeyed, yet he did not lose any sense of fire. He had been polite, but not passive. Kind, but also sharp. She suddenly wished she could have those kinds of conversations all the time. Most distressingly, she wanted them with him.

"Damon Abington," she whispered. For some reason, the name didn't sound right. It didn't sound fitting. She thought back on how close he had been to her, bent next to her while apologizing for his outburst. Any fear she had had been replaced with a desire to touch him. She had wanted to brush her fingers along his sculpted jawline. She had wanted to place her hand on his strong forearm she could only see because of his rolled up sleeves and reassure him that she wasn't afraid of him. She had never in her life experienced such lustful desires.

But the thing that had shocked her the most was his request. How many times had she cringed when someone referred to her as Lena? How many times had she wished that someone would slip up and refer to her by her full name so she could encourage them to continue to make that mistake? The fact that he recognized her desire to have a more grown-up name was the thing that finally caused her to burst into tears.

She felt sick. She had been in a room alone with a man who was neither her family nor her betrothed. In fact, it was a man she had only met hours ago. Not only had she done something that was against all propriety, she had felt wantonly about a man when she was engaged to another. A man who had apparently ruined her fiancé's life. She felt the bile rise in her throat.

Just at that moment, one of her servants, Abigail came rushing into the room. "Miss Lena, what's wrong? What happened?"

Lena attempted to speak through her sobs. "I'm sorry, Abigail. I don't know what's come over me. I just…" She broke down again.

"Would you like me to get your mother?" Abigail asked.

"No!" Lena realized she'd spoken too harshly, but she couldn't bear to see anyone at this moment. "Please," she added.

"How about I draw you a bath? Would that make you feel better?"

Lena sniffled, attempting to calm down her breathing. "Y-yes. Yes, that would be nice. Thank you, Abigail." As Abigail headed for the washtub, Lena called after her. "Could you tell my mother I won't be able to make it to dinner this evening? I think I need to sleep."

"Of course, Miss Lena."

Lena forced herself to calm down. She pushed back some of the loose strands and glared at herself in the mirror. If her mother had taught her anything, it was control. She refused to be swayed any more by the older Abington. She vowed that the second she woke up, she would rush to Stefan and kiss him as hard as she could.

* * *

><p>After an uncomfortable dinner due to Lena's absence, Stefan excused himself to bed due to exhaustion. He had noticed both his father and his brother give him meaningful looks as though to remind him of their requests. But he made an effort not to look at either of them, instead turning to kiss the hand of Miranda, thanking her for a lovely dinner.<p>

He exited the room and headed up the stairs to the guest room he had been permitted to stay in. He glanced longingly at the door that led to his sleeping fiancée. He wanted desperately to run into her room and embrace her, but he didn't want to disturb her or the proper conduct for a man. She had always been such a comfort to him, always able to pull him back when he felt as though he was hanging off the edge. She wasn't even aware of how much her warm and loving demeanor could bring him back from the darkness his soul seemed to slip into by pure habit. He would forever be grateful for what she had done for him, and he knew that he would spend every day of their marriage attempting to repay her for being his savior. The second he had let go of his old last name, he realized he needed a "Salvatore" more than ever.

He shut his own door after entering. He sat on the bed and grabbed his pocket watch. It was only half past eight, which meant he would be trapped in his room for quite a while. He stared up at the ceiling, going back to the thoughts that had been stuck in his head all day. What would this meeting with his father be like? Stefan could barely remember the last time he had had a real conversation with his father. Most of his memories with him were a literal blur. He had been so far gone during the time they'd spent together. And the times he could remember, he chose not to. He knew that anyone else would blame his father for the state they had been in, but he just couldn't find the anger in himself. Stefan knew he had been equally as guilty. But all fault in this situation went to Damon.

As nostalgia creeped over Stefan, so did weariness. Stefan woke up with a jolt later and quickly checked the time. It was fifteen minutes past the time he was to meet his father. Stefan went to the mirror to straighten his appearance and attempted to make his way out of the house as silently as possible.

* * *

><p>Damon pushed himself up off the wall he had been leaning on. It had to have been at least twenty minutes past the time he had told Stefan to meet with him. Although he should have expected his brother not to show up, it still caused Damon anguish. If Stefan never gave him the chance, Damon would never be able to explain. Damon slowly paced the small stable. Without a doubt, every action Damon had taken towards his brother had been one out of protection and love. He could never tell Stefan what had happened those many years ago, that it had killed him to leave but that he had to. He didn't have another choice. He would have gone through hell and back for his family, and he did. But Stefan and his father would never know the whole story.<p>

But now Damon had a new reason to need to protect his brother. It was the only reason he'd asked to meet. Damon ran his hands through his hair because he'd foolishly thought a slip of paper would change a man who had hated him for decades.

* * *

><p>When Stefan reached the servant's quarters, he almost keeled over from it. The smell was thick in the air. He couldn't remember the last time he had smelled it so richly. The realization came second to the odor. He attempted to calm himself. If something had happened to the servants, he would have to run back to the main house to get help. But for now, he needed to put into effect the control he'd been building for all these years and use it. <em>This would not be his breaking point. He would not break.<em>

As he slowly approached the door to one of the shed-like homes, he stopped dead in his tracks when the thought crossed his mind. His father. "No," he whispered, a word that wouldn't be audible to any human.

"Yes." He heard it as though Giuseppe was standing right next to him.

Stefan rushed inside, practically breaking down the door. His father's back was turned to him, but he watched as Abigail, one of Lena's ladies, was flung to the ground, neck torn and ripped in the most vulgar fashion possible.

Giuseppe slowly turned around towards his son, his face completely transformed. The crimson red stained his lips, cheeks, neck, and clothes. His sadistic leer was terrifying, even to Stefan.

Stefan looked in horror at the room he stood in. Another two girls Abigail must have had over were tossed just as carelessly as their friend was, the life completely drained out of them, their eyes filled with the same fear and shock Stefan had. Over in another corner was a girl who had been compelled to be calm, but her eyes spoke a different tune. She was waiting her turn.

"When?" It was the only word Stefan could get out. He covered his mouth in a fruitless attempt to block out the smell, but he could feel his fangs, desperate to reveal themselves

Giuseppe wiped his mouth coarsely on his sleeve, an action purely for show as it did nothing to hide the massive amounts of blood. "Months now. But it's quite dull without someone to share it with."

* * *

><p>Damon finally surrendered and decided he would turn back to the house. He thought about ways he could get Stefan alone to tell him about his concerns. The deep suspicion that history was repeating itself with their father had haunted him, and he needed help if he was going to fix him again. As he was leaving, he looked up in the rafters. A small wistful smile settled on his face. He'd loved places like this as a child, and had a soft spot even now. What he wouldn't give to have back those carefree days where nothing was this painful.<p>

* * *

><p>"NO!" The word came out of Stefan like a guttural noise. He had to get out. He was going to crack if he smelled it any longer. "I will not do this again! I'm happy here."<p>

Giuseppe laughed. "Happy? That's a lie and you know it. You've spent decades attempting to control yourself and it's killing you. Sorry to inform you, but it's too late for that." Giuseppe laughed again at his own joke. "What were you planning on telling that little wife of yours? Were you planning on just keeping it a secret? Or maybe you had something else in mind. She does look absolutely delicious. I bet you were going to violate her and suck her dry the second you were off this damn plantation."

Stefan let out a loud guttural noise and shoved his father. Giuseppe barely moved and just kept laughing. "You're weak. Animal blood does that to you. You don't stand a chance against me, _boy."_

Stefan's face was now covered in sweat and tears. "How could you do this? Why would you hurt me like this? I was better. _We_ were better. We were fixed."

"You can't put a bandage on a gunshot wound and expect it to heal, Stefan. You need to accept who you are. You can't pretend you belong in this world. You are a _monster_."

Stefan rushed to the door, but the severe amount of human blood had made his father faster as well. But Giuseppe's expression had changed from patronizing to almost afraid. "Don't make a mistake here, Stefan. I need you and you need me. Surrender, Stefan. Give in."

Stefan took the minimal amount of energy he had left, and put it all into his final, weak argument: "NOOO!" pushing his father again.

Giuseppe snapped, flinging Stefan back farther into the room next to the pile of bodies. Stefan realized that his outburst had caused his vampire features to become prominent. His father violently ripped the girl from her seated position and looked her in the eye. "When he gets up, you will run." He turned to look at Stefan. "He likes the chase." The girl subtly nodded her head in forced understanding. Giuseppe took a blade off the table out of his pocket and sliced it down the girl's arm. He then ran a finger over the fresh wound and knelt in front of Stefan, forcing the odor even closer. With an emotion that almost resembled softness in his eyes, Giuseppe spoke.

"We let our humanity back in all those years ago, together. You've had to feel everything threefold. The pain, the guilt, the anguish, the stress. I don't want that for you. Embrace who you truly are. Let it go."

* * *

><p><strong>Notice a few similar lines? Haha, I always think it's a treat when I'm reading a fic and there's lines from the show put in. Granted, most of the lines were given to different characters than the ones in the show.<strong>

**Please feel free to leave some criticisms in the reviews. No more switching between points of view? More Delena? Less Stelena? More Lexi/Miranda/Mary, etc.? Stop pretending you're a good writer? Hahaha :) I'm not very happy with the way this chapter panned out after re-reading it, so honesty is always the best policy.**

**P.S. I want to ask whether or not you would be okay if the crap hits the fan sooner rather than later. I'm really anxious after this chapter to start revealing some secrets, but if you'd rather have the action be slow burning, I can completely understand that. Obviously from finishing this chapter, you're probably aware of just what "crap" I'm talking about. Please let me know which you prefer. I'm happy to go either way. I would love to get into the action (believe me, there's still a WHOLE LOTTA drama that needs to go down, this isn't the only conflict) but I completely understand that it might not flow very well if I keep at this breakneck pace.**

**Love you all! See you Friday (hopefully)!**


	3. Chapter 3: Rubber and Soul

**Every single person who reads this has the full right to kill me because 1) I procrastinated and wrote this whole thing in a few hours. 2) It's about a thousand words shorter than the typical chapter. 3) It's a filler chapter. So please, tell me how much I suck because I completely deserve it.**

**YOU GUYS on the other hand need to be told how flawless you all are. The reviews are far too kind and literally make my entire day. So thank you times a thousand. I'm incredibly sorry to disappoint you with this chapter, but I do think it needed to be put in there so we could get to the more exciting stuff. The reason it's shorter is just because I wanted to end this chapter in a certain way and I don't have a desire to add unnecessary stuff just to hit a certain amount of words.**

**Be sure to tell me how much I suck on my tumblr ninadobsession :) (Don't know if you guys can tell, but my middle name is subtle.)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3: Rubber and Soul<p>

_In my mind I'm crawling on your floor_

_Vomiting and defeated_

_Total absence of grace_

_Your reluctant voice saying_

_You decide your own fate but_

_I wear rubber bands round my soul_

_They keep me from crawling_

_And these rubber bands round my soul_

_They keep me from falling_

Lena woke up with a start in her own bedroom. She had been having a nightmare, one consisting of horrible monsters and death. Yet, she hadn't been scared. Although it's foggy, she remembers, in fact, _helping_ the creatures complete their lethal missions. But at the end, they had turned on her and right before she was about to be killed…

She was covered in sweat, so she got up out of her bed in order to change. She saw through the curtains it was at least somewhat light out, so she pushed them open to find out just how long she had slept. Apparently, a very long time. The plantation was vivaciously busy, with servants and guests roaming. Lena was used to the guests. Miranda had been lonely since her husband's death, so she made sure to constantly be entertaining. But she never had them over until at least eleven.

_Why didn't Abigail wake me up?_ Lena wondered. Abigail typically came into her room by nine, even if Lena had no engagements until the afternoon. Lena didn't worry about it too much. With the incredible amount of events happening at the plantation lately, the servants were always given tasks they were not originally assigned to, just to keep up with the severe amount of work.

Lena was able to bathe and dress herself without help, so she headed towards her vanity to begin her morning routine. But returning to that familiar seat brought back a rush of yesterday's memories: the sitting room, Damon's outburst, their witty conversation, the feelings that Lena had experienced. But mornings were Lena's best time of the day. She always felt far more productive and capable of anything after a good rest. So she took a deep breath, looked at herself in the mirror and made the decision to forget about her encounter with the older Abington. She smiled slightly at the crazed pledge she had made the evening before to kiss Stefan as hard as she could when she first saw him today. Blushing, she contemplated all the ways she could do it. Pull him into a hallway before tea. Ask him to go riding and instead spend all day in the stable. Or maybe she would use her patience and wait until that evening where they could take a romantic moonlit walk around the lake.

Her thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door. "Come in," Lena said, assuming Abigail had finally been given permission to return to her normal duties. But instead, Lexi appeared on the other side of the door.

"Hello," she said. She was already perfectly dressed, her beauty seemingly unfair this early in the day. "I'm so sorry to barge in, but I was wondering if I could speak to you for a minute, in private."

"Of course," Lena replied. "Come in."

Lexi stepped inside, quietly shutting the door behind her. She crossed to Lena's bed, and began to straighten the covers.

"Goodness gracious," Lena exclaimed, shocked. "Lexi, you don't have to make my bed. We can just talk."

Lexi looked up at Lena, continuing to make the bed. "I'm sorry," she spoke shyly. "It's second nature for me to want to clean. For some reason, it's always been incredibly relaxing for me. When my family needed finances, I worked as a servant for a while. It seemed to be the only thing a woman could do that I would actually rather enjoy. Besides, my family couldn't help themselves and my _job_ is to fix what's broken." Her head suddenly shot up, as her tone had been bitter in her last sentence. "I'm sorry. I tend to speak too much. It's not proper."

"It's fine, Lexi," Elena said calmly. "Stefan has already told me everything."

Lexi's head shot up again. "Stefan has told you _everything_?" she repeated

"Well, not everything, but your situation, yes."

Lexi stood with her mouth slightly open and wiped her hands on her dress nervously. "You're surprisingly calm with us being here."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Lena asked. "I'm not too thrilled about Damon's presence, but I am overjoyed you and your father decided to join us. Stefan has told me so much about you."

Lexi snorted. "Stefan's a bit biased when it comes to the members of his family."

"I think he deserves to be, after what Damon did to him," Lena replied. "Your family going through that difficult time and Damon just abandoning you all is… unimaginable."

Lexi paused and walked over to Lena's side, perching herself on the now made bedside that was closest to her. "Exactly how much do you know, Lena?"

"Only what I've said. Stefan and your father were struggling with something and Damon left you to support them all on your own."

Lexi's face relaxed quickly. "Oh, right, of course. He did tell you everything." Lena noticed a small smile appear on Lexi's face before she quickly changed her expression back. "Well, as much as it was a difficult time, you should know I tend to be a lot more… passive about the situation. I respect Damon's decision to leave us, and have no anger towards him."

Lena was flabbergasted. "You had to take care of your family all by yourself. How could you not be mad at Damon?"

Lexi started to say something, but the words got stuck in her throat. She started again, but changed her word flow abruptly. "Well, let's just say I'm incredibly compassionate. Besides, as I said earlier, my purpose in life is to fix what's been broken."

"Well, I think that's a thoroughly admirable purpose to have," Lena said, placing her hand on Lexi's. "Oh, could we spend a day together soon, just the two of us? I would so much like to get to know you better. I've had very few friends my own age. Hopefully, once all of this wedding madness settles down, we can become the best of friends, just like sisters."

Lexi's face fell and she stood up with a sad smile on her face. "I don't believe that will be possible, Lena. My father and I, we tend to be quite nomadic. I'm sure once your wedding is over, we will all be getting out of your hair permanently."

"Oh," Lena said in a small voice, disappointed. "Well, while you're here, we could talk, yes?"

Lexi smiled forlornly again. "Yes, of course." There was a pause in conversation. Lexi began to exit, but turned back to Lena. "I'm surprised you don't ask more questions. You seem perfectly fine with my brother's vagueness."

Lena looked up with a quizzical expression from her seated position. "I love your brother with everything that I am. I trust him, heart and soul."

Lexi was silent for a moment. She grabbed the door handle and began to turn it. She looked back to Lena somberly. "Hold on to that. It's the only way you two will survive."

Before Lena could respond, Lexi was gone. Lena walked to the door and glanced in the hallway, but it was completely empty.

* * *

><p>Stefan mounded even more soil onto the already massive pile that covered the remnants of last night. Stefan paused every few minutes to lower the shovel and wipe the ever flowing tears from his eyes. Everything that had happened the night before was roaring through his mind, quick flashes of blood, screams, and his father's smile, the one that had haunted his sleep for far too many nights. He could bury the bodies, but the guilt would never stay underground.<p>

As Stefan finally determined enough earth stood between him and his victims, he looked up at the sky, trying to calm the nerves in his body that wanted to rip through his skin. Everything was electrified, in a way that was both terrible and beautiful. He couldn't contain it any more. He let out a primitive scream, one that could probably be heard from miles away, even though he'd traveled much too far for anyone on the Gilbert plantation to hear. He'd done well to block any thoughts of Lena out of his mind, but every time one came, the pain in his chest nearly made him collapse. He broke down again, falling to his knees.

A smooth voice interrupted his cries. "I wouldn't have asked you to come if I knew you were going to be this much of a killjoy, Stefan." Stefan turned his head. His father, who had gone to clean himself in a nearby stream, looked almost presentable, save for the substantial amount of blood that still stained his shirt. His face showed his displeasure. "I thought you were going to turn it off."

Stefan couldn't even respond. The incredible amount of emotions he was experiencing prevented him from doing anything except crying. The guilt, the anger, but worst of all, the hunger. A new need was present: the desire to do it again and again. Every fiber of his being was now going towards controlling that part of him.

Giuseppe sauntered towards his son. He stood in front of his crouched body, and kicked a bit of the dirt off of the freshly packed grave. "After you left, I realized I didn't have much of a purpose, Stefan. Most fathers are supposed to make sure their sons become successful and their daughters marry well. But I recognized that none of my children needed me. Damon left us and created his own life. Lexi, well she's become one of those independent women. She has no need to get married. For a long while, I thought you didn't need me either." Giuseppe knelt to meet his son's watery eyes. "I was living in turmoil for a long time. When Lexi helped us all those years ago, she made us take back our humanity. But I'm not a human. None of us are. I could no longer play a game of pretend for the rest of my existence. So, I turned it back off."

Stefan worked up enough composure to speak quietly. "Do Lexi and Damon know?"

"No! Of course not," Giuseppe scoffed. "They wouldn't have allowed me to get within a thousand yards of this house or you. This time, we can hide it. It's much easier."

Stefan stood up. "Don't say we, father. I will not be a part of this. I refuse. You and I will go back to the Gilberts and you will say you were called away on business and you will _never_ come back. Do you understand me?"

Giuseppe's face had no emotion on it for a few moments, but suddenly his sadistic smile came back as he ran Stefan into the nearest tree, his hands at Stefan's throat. His voice was cold and controlled as he spoke. "You are kidding yourself if you thought this was just a simple _mistake_ you will forget about and move on from." Giuseppe moved to viciously whisper in Stefan's ear. "Right now, as we speak, the blood is rushing through your veins, giving you energy you haven't felt in years. The voracious hunger is tearing you apart inside. The thrill of the slaughter is the only thing you desire at this moment. Not Lena, not your old life, but the kill. You can run me as far off of this plantation as you want to, but you made a move last night that would take you decades to recover from." Giuseppe dropped his son to the ground. Stefan stared blankly ahead, eyes void of a reaction.

Giuseppe brushed his hands off. "The decision you're contemplating has already been made, Stefan. The one you _should_ be considering is whether you want to do it alone."

* * *

><p>Lena walked down the steps as Mary jumped up and down in place. Lena smiled at her rambunctious sibling.<p>

"Mary, what are you doing?" she asked.

"Louisa never came to get me this morning to take me outside and Mama says I can't go outside unless Louisa is with me."

Louisa and Abigail? Lena was shocked. "Did you ask Mama where Louisa was?"

"Yes, but she doesn't know." Mary replied.

Lena grabbed her sister's hand and started down the long hallway. She started to look through the various rooms, with Mary occasionally calling out for Miranda. Fears began to run through Lena's mind as she went to the various rooms, desperate to find some answers.

Her quest was interrupted, though, when she ran into Damon. He had turned a corner, just as she was coming around it. When he recognized her, his face lit up with a huge smile. "Damon!" Mary cried running and jumping into his arms.

"Hey, sugar. Sorry I had to leave you earlier. But I'm back if you still want me to play the knight." Mary gasped excitedly.

"You two have been _playing_?" Lena asked incredulously. She couldn't picture Damon with a child, let alone playing with her sister.

Damon placed Mary back on the ground and whispered in her ear. Mary giggled and darted off back down the hallway. He stood back up to face Lena. "Yes, she was trapped inside the house and apparently, I make a very good prince." He smiled widely.

Lena was taken aback. Was he _flirting_ with her? She didn't have time to dwell on it when there were more pressing issues on hand. Furthermore, she wasn't going to break again like yesterday. She had far too much willpower. Her primary goal was to get him to move out of her way.

"Well, it seems you decided to just leave her with no explanation halfway through. It's not exceedingly surprising with your history." Lena knew it was a harsh statement, but she wanted to make sure Damon knew her feelings towards his betrayal.

Damon balked. "Elena, I-I was..."

"As much as I'd love to hear an excuse, I need to locate my mother. Have you seen her?" she asked briskly.

"Uh, no, not recently. I can help you look for her, if you would like."

Lena was stunned. She'd been incredibly rude to him, yet he seemed to be completely unruffled by her cruel words. "Uh s-sure." She turned the corner and continued checking the rooms, as Damon followed behind. Oddly, she felt as though she was breaking whatever pact she'd made earlier this morning by once again being alone and this close with him, but she ignored it. Damon would not get under her skin.

* * *

><p>As Damon followed closely behind Elena, he deliberated why she had been so rude earlier. Something must have happened between the last time he had seen her and now for her to have changed so much. He had thought their last encounter had been quite pleasurable. Yes, she had been sharp with him then, but it was simply banter. Now, the words felt much more real.<p>

Finally, they discovered her mother in one of the sitting rooms talking anxiously with one of the older male help. "Lena!" she exclaimed when her daughter entered. "And Damon. I'm so sorry I've been preoccupied this morning."

"Is this about Louisa and Abigail, Mama?" Elena asked.

"Yes," Miranda replied. "Apparently, they've disappeared."

"Disappeared?" Elena repeated.

"Yes. Nobody has heard from or seen them since late last night. The last thing we know is that Abigail and Louisa had a few acquaintances over. George and I believe they might have run away."

Damon was surprised. Every employee he had seen here had been treated with the upmost respect. Why would two teenage girls run away? They would face far more difficulties off this land than on it.

He gauged Elena's reaction and felt physical discomfort when he saw the worried look on her face. He would be a liar if he had not noticed her near flawless beauty, but even concern was lovely on her. He wanted to place his arm around her, to comfort her in some way, but he was positive she would immediately reject it.

But Damon couldn't have consoled her even if he'd tried to, for at that moment, Stefan entered the room. Noticing the nervous expressions in the room, Stefan asked, "Is everything alright?"

Elena turned to embrace him, placing her shoulder on his chest, as Miranda again explained the situation. But Damon's eyes were completely focused on Stefan. The second Elena had wrapped her arms around him, Stefan had tensed up, with an almost pained expression on his face. Damon also noticed a flicker of unnatural emotion cross over Stefan's eyes at the mention of Abigail's name, but he couldn't tell exactly what it was.

Abruptly, Damon's curiosity about his brother's illogical behavior was replaced with an indisputable knowledge: he smelled blood. Fresh, human blood.

* * *

><p><strong>Now you see why I wanted to end it in a certain way. Yes, there will be a confrontation between the brothers and that will be in the next chapter. Also, for those of you who are wondering when the eff the Delena action is starting, I promise it will be soon. I have a plan so <em>please <em>be patient.**

**I wanted to give Lexi some time in the sun this chapter. I adore her and the death of her character is the only thing I have ever hated the writers for. She will definitely have some more story time as well if you like her. Plus, little Mary. I apologize if you guys wanted to see Jeremy, but I'm a sucker for Damon and little children so bam, out popped the idea of Mary.**

**So tell me what you think in the comments. Should my keyboard be taken away from me so I can never write again? Are you excited for some Defan fighting? Are you still forever bitter about the death of Lexi like I am? Any predictions for what's coming up?**

**Love, love, love every single one of you all. There should be an update around Monday, unless a lot of you say yes to that first question. :)**


	4. Chapter 4: Hero

**The amount of emotions I felt writing this chapter. I hated it half the time, I loved it the other half. I wanted to throw my computer out a window at the same time as I wanted to hug it. Hahaha :) I really wanted to just wait another day to update this, but I'm trying desperately to keep up with my regular schedule of updating so I kept my promise. **

**I really hope you guys are enjoying this story. Once again, this chapter's a little shorter, but I think it has _plenty_ of action to make up for it. This is definitely one of the major turning points in this story, so I really hope you guys don't walk away from this going "What in the world is this girl smoking?"**

**This is also one of those chapters where reviews are VITAL. I'm serious. I need to know your opinions on this story, because they actually are incredibly influential on how this story goes. I'm incredibly thankful for the reviews on the past few chapters, but if you haven't been reviewing, PLEASE review this chapter. Even if it's short or somewhat mean, I desperately want your opinion. **

**Love you all so so so much and I hope you like it!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 4: Hero<p>

_Now we're going to these meetings_

_But we're not doin' any meetin'_

_And we're trying to be faithful but we're cheatin', cheatin', cheatin'_

_Hey, open wide here comes original sin_

_It's al-right, it's al-right, it's al-right, it's al-right_

_No one's got it all_

_I'm the hero of the story_

_Don't need to be saved_

Stefan watched as Lena and her mother exited the room, off to search for two women they would never find. The guilt was about to invade his brain when suddenly the brute force of his brother pinned him to the wall.

"Human blood?" Damon hissed as he held him in a position eerily similar to the one Giuseppe had done earlier. "After everything that has happened, you're drinking human blood again?"

"What are you talking about?" Stefan croaked back, desperate to get his brother's hands off his neck

Damon's face turned to disgust. "You could have the common decency to not lie to me." He dropped Stefan to the floor. "I can smell it on you. I'm surprised nobody else can. You reek of it."

Stefan knew his attempt had been weak, but he'd tried it anyway. Stefan had forgotten that although he'd scrubbed himself raw, any vampire would have been able to smell it on him for at least another day. But Stefan couldn't bear to deal with his brother's judgment. He had enough running through his head at the moment then to deal with his brother's emotional guilt trip. So he attempted another deflection.

"Coming from the man who wouldn't drink animal blood if he was locked in a zoo, your repulsion doesn't mean much." Stefan pushed himself off of the floor.

Damon scoffed. "This conversation isn't about me. I can't believe after all these years, after all the hell we went through to save you, the years of rehabilitation you had to go through, you would take a _sip_ of human blood. But you aren't even ashamed of it."

Stefan started towards the door, knowing that anything he said wouldn't do any good when it came to Damon. But a small voice he barely recognized stopped him.

"Is it Elena?" his brother asked. Stefan turned around. Damon looked at him fiercely, but he almost sounded hurt. "Are you feeding on Elena?"

"You think I'm compelling my _fiancée_ to feed me her blood and just forget about it the next day? How horrible do you think I am? _I love her_. I would never do that to her." Stefan asked incredulously. He realized too late that his tone sounded as though he was trying to convince himself more than anything else.

"Do you realize that you have no boundaries when it comes to drinking blood? You have no control over yourself. Every time Lexi tried to give you small amounts of human blood, you went crazy again and had to start all over. You decided animal blood was the only way you would be able to stay sane and normal."

Stefan still couldn't respond so Damon spoke again. "How long have you been feeding on humans, Stefan?"

Stefan suddenly became conscious of the fact that his brother didn't know any of the events of the previous night. "Um, I've been slowly working into it for a few years now. I've been trying to control the bloodlust."

"And has it been working?" Damon asked. Stefan realized that he was getting away with his lie. His brother wouldn't know about any of his kills if he thought he was simply drinking to become immune to the temptation. Although Stefan knew he was in far more trouble, fixing something small temporarily, like his brother's suspicion, made him feel the slightest bit more at ease.

"Yes," Stefan replied. "Living with Elena for the rest of our lives, I need to make sure I can be around her completely. Taking small doses of blood every day helps to decrease the cravings."

Stefan realized the conversation between him and his brother had turned practically civilized. He could barely remember the last time a conversation of theirs hadn't ended in violence or screaming. A sort of nostalgia crept in to his brain, but he pushed it away, convinced it was simply a result of the massive amount of emotions he was experiencing.

"I think Father killed those girls," Damon said briskly. Stefan's eyes widened as he looked at his brother.

"Excuse me?" Stefan replied.

"I wanted to tell you this last night, until you decided not to show up." Damon took a second to give Stefan an accusatory glance. "But I've been having my suspicions that Father has gone back over the edge. It's why I jumped so quickly when I smelled it on you. I didn't see Father at all last night after dinner, and he's been noticeably absent this entire morning. I've discussed this with Lexi and we want to create a plan, but we're going to need your help. I've thought about…"

As Damon described in detail his ideas, Stefan began to sweat. All of the hesitations and fears from earlier came rushing back. What had he done? What was he going to do? He felt as though he was digging a hole he would never get out of. How could he protect his father and himself? On top of this, his desire to feed was coming back quickly. He needed to get out of the house and find somebody, anybody who he could compel.

"Are you mad, brother?" Stefan realized his tone was far too sharp to be normal when Damon's expression turned to shock. "Father hasn't regressed back into that state. You have no proof." Damon was about to speak, obviously to prove otherwise so Stefan quickly decided to use any trick he could to make sure he was able to leave.

"Is this some weak attempt at trying to get back into my good graces by fixing Father? Throw him into some sort of vampire rehabilitation program and be the hero? You had that opportunity years ago and you decided you'd rather go live in another country than help your own family. Father is perfectly fine. You would know this if you hadn't spent the last five decades avoiding him!"

Damon looked at Stefan in shock. Stefan realized most of his argument was shaky, but he needed to feed before he hurt somebody else. He rushed out of the room and slammed the door behind him, heading straight back to the servants' quarters.

* * *

><p>Lena had spent some time with her mother and a few other servants, desperately searching for answers but finding none. As she entered the foyer again, she ran back over the details of last night, looking for any signs that Abigail was unhappy. A bigger fear was creeping into Lena that she and Louisa had been hurt, but she pushed the thought back, trying to maintain a positive attitude.<p>

Suddenly, Stefan entered the foyer. Relief settled over Lena, happy she had found her safe place. But she noticed he was looking incredibly upset and determined.

"What happened? Did Damon say something?" she asked. Abruptly, she became paranoid as she realized what could have happened. What if Damon had spoken of their conversation just to provoke his brother? She rushed towards Stefan, embracing him tightly. "Don't believe a word he said. I love you, Stefan."

She looked up at Stefan's face to notice he was grimacing in pain. She was now sure that Damon had spoken about her. She yanked Stefan's hand into the nearby closet, anxious to convince him she was completely devoted.

"Lena, what are you-" She cut him off with a hard kiss to the lips, pressing her body tightly to his. Stefan was refusing to respond, instead practically shoving her off of him. She would kill Damon after this, she was sure of it.

"What is wrong with you?" Stefan whispered harshly, careful to make sure nobody walking by would hear them.

"I don't know what Damon told you, but our exchange yesterday meant nothing. In fact, it was infuriating, but I feel guilty all the same." She spoke quickly, urgently trying to make sure he heard everything before making any more assumptions. "I was sick with regret last night and all I could think about was being in your arms again. I'm_ so_ sorry."

Stefan stepped back and looked at her incredulously. He looked as though he was about to say something, but instead put a hand to his mouth and mumbled, "I need to go outside." As he pushed open the door, Lena burst into tears, the guilt consuming her. She raced after him grabbing his arm, but he wouldn't turn around. "Say something, Stefan, please."

He still didn't turn around. When he spoke, his voice was tense and weak. "Did you kiss him?"

"No!" she said as loud as she could without drawing too much attention to herself. "Of course not! We were just talking. Did he say that we did?"

Stefan didn't reply, simply yanking his arm out of hers and walking towards the door, still not facing her. Right then, one of Miranda's servants, Helen, came into the foyer, looking nervous. She'd obviously heard their heated conversation.

"Is everything alright, Mr. Abington?" Helen asked, almost scared for the answer. Stefan still wouldn't speak, not moving from his position an inch. Lena let out a broken sob.

"Miss Lena?" Helen tried again with the young lady. Lena sniffled and tried to compose herself to give a response, but just then Stefan pushed open the door and stormed outside. Once he turned the corner off the porch, Lena broke down again.

Helen quickly rushed to Lena's side. Lena felt awful. How could she hurt Stefan like that, with the man that he hated?

* * *

><p>Damon had been nursing his drink from the cart in the back of the formal room, when he had heard the beginnings of the fight between Elena and Stefan. He was incredibly tempted to listen in, but he realized that Elena would hate him if she knew he'd eavesdropped. Why did he care so much about her opinion? If it were anyone else, he wouldn't have hesitated, but for some reason, he decided to tune his hearing to a hushed conversation between servants a few rooms over, gossiping about an affair in town.<p>

But a few minutes later, the conversation between Elena and Stefan was loud enough for any human in the house to hear. He could only pick up the last phrase, "Did he say that we did?" He wasn't a great guesser, but his assumption was that this conversation was all about him.

He slowly crept towards the foyer, listening to an uncomfortable dialogue between a housekeeper and Elena, which ended with a slammed door and Elena breaking into sobs. Every bone in his body told him he should turn around, but another force wanted to make sure she was okay.

The second he entered, he realized it had been a mistake. Elena's face shot up from her position on the floor, with a face of pure disgust and fury. She rose as quickly as she could, clumsily tripping a little bit on her dress, but choose to ignore at as she ran at Damon and shoved him into the nearest wall. To be fair, Damon hadn't resisted.

Elena had her face inches from his, angry tears streaming down her face. "You… you scum! How could you hurt me like this? What did you say to him? He hates me now!"

Damon now regretted his choice to not listen to their conversation. It would have given him some context. He wanted to say something, anything to make her happy again. He stared at her for a second, not quite able to look anywhere else because of her proximity. Her clear olive skin and deep brown eyes were flawless, even though she had been crying. He felt a strange yearning to kiss her right then, but remembered that she was waiting for an answer.

He decided honesty was his best choice. "I don't know what you're talking about. We hardly discussed you."

She let out a loud breath and his reflexes registered she was going to slap him. But he let her, as it wouldn't have been human to detect it. He even made sure to pretend like it had actually hurt. Because he knew that, after this fight with Stefan had blown over, she would smile with pride to herself any time she thought about this moment.

He heard Helen gasp and he was sure she was afraid that Damon would attempt to hit Elena back, but he decided not to move, instead staring blankly into Elena's eyes. "Are you done?" he asked, making sure to sound cruel.

She let out another exasperated growl and stepped back, rushing up the stairs. Helen followed, keeping a wary gaze on Damon. He knew she would be the main attraction tonight down in the quarters, being the only witness to most likely the biggest scene in this plantation's history.

* * *

><p>Stefan sat on the ground, in a place he didn't recognize. He knew it had been hours since he'd left after his argument with Lena. His memory of the day was hazy. His desperation to get out of the house to feed after Damon's accusations. Lena dragging him into the closet and throwing herself at him. She'd been making these senseless comments about Damon. Stefan quickly tried to gather whether she had cheated on him, but remembered that she had said that they had only talked. Then why had she been so frantic to convince him that nothing had happened, if nothing had?<p>

He recalled that his vampire features had appeared in the closet. He had been so close to her, and her words had nearly been drowned out by her swift-pumping blood. It had taken everything in him not to drain her right there. He remembered getting out of the closet and making sure that she hadn't seen his face. He remembered running off the porch towards the woods. And then it was all fog.

He opened his eyes and looked at the scene in front of him. There were bodies, lots of them. He'd drained all of them, without any compulsion. A flash of what his father had said the other night ran through his head: "he likes the chase." It was true. He had a sadistic desire to see fear in the person's eyes.

He stumbled trying to get up, to survey how much damage he had actually caused when his eyes caught on her. He choked.

Her olive skin was covered in her own blood. Her deep brown eyes stared up at him, terrified. Her previously styled dark brown hair was now mangled and mashed in various places.

"Miranda," he whispered.

* * *

><p>Stefan was so far gone he hadn't realized the presence of another person nearby. Lexi had been searching for her brother after hearing about the incident that afternoon when she witnessed the monstrous, brutal feeding in the woods. She saw the various servants thrown in different places, body parts haphazardly tossed in different directions. Her worst fears had come true.<p>

She almost let out a cry when she saw that Lena's mother was one of the victims. She ran inhumanly fast back towards the plantation. Everyone was asleep, as it was well past midnight, but she raced to Damon's room anyways, hurriedly knocking on his door.

When he answered it, she spoke, "We need to leave here. _Now._"

* * *

><p>Stefan was paralyzed with emotions, staring at his future mother-in-law. Every feeling he'd ever had in his entire life was racing through him. Deep sadness. Inconceivable anger. Even profound pride. He fell to his knees again, burying his head in his hands, desperate to stop the flow of emotion. He just wanted it gone. He didn't want to feel anything. His body couldn't handle the massive amount of guilt and pain and consequence.<p>

So he turned it off.

**Wowza. So I knew that this was coming, I just didn't realize how soon until I wrote it. I knew I could have simply added a fluff chapter, but I typically don't like them when I read other fics, so I couldn't make myself write one. They're boring to read (to me), and even more boring to try to write.**

**It was a creative decision to make the last sentence so brief. I wanted to convey the quickness and suddenness of the action, just as if it were a switch. I promise I didn't just get tired of writing and decide that that was "good enough." But I think the idea of turning your humanity off means that there isn't a whole lot of deep emotion attached. It's definitely going to be a challenge if and when I decide to write in Stefan's point of view.**

**It's late for me, so I'm gonna post this and go to sleep, but I really do hope you guys liked this chapter, as most of it was fun to write. I added a few more quotes from the show in there (see if you can spot them) because a few of you said that you liked that. Please please PLEASE review this chapter as I know it's pretty polarizing.**

**I hope you have a fabulous week and I should have an update by Thursday. 3**


	5. Chapter 5: Skin and Bones

**Oh wow, only about halfway happy with this. This chapter was probably the most challenging I've written so far, especially the last part, so please forgive me for the quality here. I believe that once this is out of the way, I'll be able to get into the swing of things more. But it's definitely an incredibly important chapter.**

**I'm incredibly thankful for your reviews these past few days. The more detailed, the better and you guys definitely followed that. I'm incredibly thankful for all comments, even the critical ones so please keep them coming. Writing the first section of this story was actually kind of fun because it was different, but the rest of this story, as I said, was hard, hard, hard.**

**Another note to make is the song lyrics at the beginning of each chapter. I try to make the songs really pertinent to the chapter, so if you want to listen to the song before or during or after reading the chapter, it's highly encouraged. I bring it up, because it's incredibly fitting for this chapter (to me.)**

**Love love love you all to pieces.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5: Skin and Bones<p>

_Don't lose your soul as your eyes roll shut  
>Don't worry, it will be over<br>Hold on though, you're alone, I am there with you  
>That much at least I can promise<br>You know what's to come to not accept this  
>Don't lose your soul, you must fight for each breath<br>Don't go quietly  
>Don't cry out for God<br>Just breathe in and out  
>We are but lambs to the slaughter now<br>I have no fear of death itself  
>So don't try and save me and please, God, forsake me<br>I'll suffer alone, I just want to be left  
>My soul has flown and I am what is left<br>I am skin and bones_

Elena had been blankly staring out of the carriage for an immeasurable amount of time. The tears on her face had long ago dried and the desire to cry was gone. Her body had been fighting all of the different emotions for so long it had worn out, and the only thing she could do was feel nothing as she reflected on all of the events of the past twenty four hours.

_Elena awoke to the sounds of whispered yelling. She'd slept incredibly restlessly, constantly tossing and turning because of the stressful day she'd had. Since she couldn't fall asleep, the sounds of the conversation intrigued her enough to wake up. She wrapped a robe around her, and tiptoed out of her room, knowing that if her mother found her in the hallway this early in the morning, she would throw a fit. _

_Once outside of the room, she realized the argument was happening in the room Damon had been staying in. Of course, she thought. Damon could cause trouble in his sleep. She smiled a bit at her joke, but the smile was wiped off very quickly after she heard exactly what they were arguing about._

She looked down in her lap at the little girl who was fast asleep. Her body had finally worn itself out as well from the screams and cries. Elena's chest ached and tightened thinking about her younger sister's pain. No one this young should learn how cruel the world is. In fact, Elena realized it'd taken her eighteen years to learn just how awful it could be.

"_We can't leave her here!" Damon whispered his voice straining. "They'll both be dead within the week."_

"_How do you suggest we move a girl and her five year old sister without Father or Stefan knowing?" Lexi whispered back. "We'd be putting everyone in danger."_

"_Everyone already is in danger. But you can guarantee leaving Elena here will kill her."_

_Lexi didn't reply to Damon's comment so he spoke again. "We have no clue what Stefan will do once he comes back from those woods. Where's your humanity, Lexi? You don't think she deserves even an explanation of how her mother was killed?"_

_Elena gasped and felt her heart stop. The conversation ended, as though they had heard her quiet intake of breath. Elena caught Damon cursing under his breath._

_Lexi opened the door slowly as Elena stood in the hallway, trembling with fear. Damon was standing in the back of the room, running his hands through hair that looked as though it had been disturbed quite a lot that evening. A small part of her noticed that he was wearing no shirt, but that sight was quickly forgotten when she saw Lexi's face._

"_Elena, I think we need to discuss something." She stepped away so that Elena could enter, but Elena refused to move. "Elena," she said, filled with compassion, but Elena was paralyzed. "Think about Mary. Do you want her to hear this?"_

_That motivated Elena to move the few steps into the room, but once she came in, she went to a place in the room where she was at least five feet away from either one of them. She crossed her arms protectively over her chest, but felt incredibly vulnerable standing there. Her head, in an attempt to save her from the vast amount of pain she was about to experience, had blocked any of the words Damon and Lexi had said._

"_What's going on? Where's Stefan?"_

_Lexi looked at Damon who was conveniently looking at the floor. Lexi sighed, realizing she was going to have to do most of the talking. "There are some things about our family that you need to know. Things Stefan never told you."_

She stole yet another glance at the man sitting across from her. They hadn't spoken or even acknowledged the other's presence since they'd left her home. She thought she would prefer it that way. The hatred coursing through her veins told her she would be happy if she never spoke to him again. But a larger part of her wanted somebody, anybody to comfort her at this moment.

_Elena's body hurt from lying on the cold hardwood floor. She'd been there for over twenty minutes, her chest heaving with sobs. Lexi was pacing the floor in the room, all energy focused on the situation at hand rather than the violently distraught girl in the corner. _

_They'd told her everything. Well, everything that could be told in the time they had. That Stefan was a vampire, that they all were, that her mother and the rest of the workers on the plantation had been ripped apart by him, that there was no stopping Stefan once he became this way. They'd described him as a ripper, a term Elena had never heard before, but one she knew she'd remember for a long time. After they'd finished, she'd done the only thing her body allowed her to do: collapse. Collapse and grieve the mother who'd died and the fiancé she'd lost. Her mind wasn't helping, only slowly processing the information so that each new piece cut her like a blade over and over again._

_Damon reentered the room, having gone to check to see where Giuseppe was. "I can't find him. I haven't even seen him since yesterday, but with everything that's been going on, I'm sure nobody missed him."_

"_If Giuseppe is the one that reversed Stefan's progress, then he needs to stay as far away from this plan as possible. If he didn't, well, he can handle Stefan if he gets left behind."_

"_Lexi, we can't stand around and talk about this forever," Damon interjected. "If Stefan comes back before we've left, we'll never be able to leave. If we're doing something, it needs to be done now."_

_Lexi hesitated for only a second before whispering something to Damon and exiting. Damon began to walk slowly towards Elena and kneeled directly in front of her curled-up body. He tried to touch her but she shot back, screaming. Elena knew she should have run long ago, but the urge to die at this point was so strong, she'd decided to stay._

"_Elena, I'm not trying to hurt you," Damon said softly. "I'm trying to help you get away. But we need to leave right now if you want to be safe."_

_Elena glared at him through bloodshot eyes and somehow found enough energy to scream again. "No!" She broke down into sobs again._

_Damon let out an exasperated sigh and decided to try a different tactic. In a calm, slow voice he said, "You told me the other day how strong you were. I need you to show me that right now. You told me if your mother taught you anything, it was how you could do whatever you set your mind to. I understand that you need to grieve, but your sister needs you right now. I need you to push past this for just a few minutes, and then the moment that carriage pulls off this property, you can let go again."_

_Elena's cries finally slowed just enough for her to sit up. "Good," Damon said with a small smile, as though he was talking to a child. "Now please, go get Mary ready. It's best if you don't tell her anything right now, or else this will be much harder than it needs to be."_

_He helped Elena get up from the floor and began to haphazardly throw his things into a trunk as she stiffly walked towards the door. _

"_Elena, wait," she heard from behind her. He had stopped his frantic movements to look at her. "Thank you for trusting me."_

"_I don't trust you," Elena said weakly. "I just need to save my sister's life."_

Unlike Elena, his eyes seemed to show every emotion he was feeling. He was leaning his head against the door, eyes boring out into the woods they passed. She realized too late her glance had gone on for far too long as he turned his head to face her for the first time. Her natural instinct was to turn her head, pretending she hadn't been looking, but her eyes stayed locked with his anyways.

His eyes softened a little bit and she trapped in his gaze. Yet she didn't feel uncomfortable in it. She could sense the sincerity that she hadn't been able to earlier. That sincerity in his gaze almost made her jump across the carriage to embrace him, but her control made her stay. She nearly shuddered when she saw him mouth "I'm sorry."

* * *

><p>Damon let out a sigh of relief as the carriage finally stopped. He noticed Elena stirring, Mary still asleep in her lap. He pushed open the curtains he'd put down so Elena could sleep in peace just a small amount to check his surroundings. They hadn't lived here in decades and he was surprised by how little it had changed. When he turned around to look back at the girls, Elena was looking straight at him with a face filled with resentment. He sighed a little, and stepped out.<p>

Lexi was hopping off the front of the carriage as he closed Elena and Mary back in. "Good job, Lex," Damon allowed. "Where did you learn how to control the horses like that?"

"Years of practice," she smiled softly. She then lowered her voice to a level Elena wouldn't be able to hear. "How was she?"

Damon let out a heavy breath and paused. "We have a lot to deal with."

Lexi scoffed. "She's a liability, Damon. You knew that."

"Yes," Damon replied. "But we couldn't leave her."

Lexi sighed. "No, we couldn't leave her."

Damon turned to see Elena slowly stepping out of the carriage. Mary was slumped over her shoulder, still asleep. Damon turned back to look at the house that Elena was now staring at. It was a small one-story wooden house with a porch. The benefit to this house was that it was in the middle of nowhere. The only thing you could see were fields that never ended and miles of woods. It was much more simple and quaint than Elena's large plantation so he could understand if she felt hesitant. But Elena instead pushed forward and addressed Lexi directly.

"I need to put Mary down," Elena said coldly. "Is there a place where I can do that?"

"Yes," Lexi replied. "The house is fully furnished. Just choose a room."

Elena swiftly disappeared into the house. "Should I-?" Damon was cut off.

"No." Lexi said harshly. "She needs some time alone. Believe me, when she's ready to discuss things, she will be very vocal about it. She has fire. Now help me get our things out."

Later that evening, after most of the things were put away, Damon was sitting in the sparsely decorated living room stoking the fire. Lexi rushed in, out of breath. "What is it?" Damon asked, concerned and expecting the worst.

"Food! I forgot food. How could I forget food?" Lexi began to pace.

Damon caught himself before he laughed. He hadn't thought of it either and it would have been almost humorous if they weren't in the situation they were in. "Well, I'm sure neither is hungry right now, but we might have to go hunting later."

"Hunting?" Lexi questioned. "We don't know how to hunt!"

"Yes we do. When you're about to drain whatever animal you've captured in the woods, you stop. That's hunting."

"Oh." Lexi blushed. "Of course, I'm sorry, I'm not thinking."

Damon was cut off from responding when Elena stepped into the room. She was still wearing the same outfit she'd left in, but her hair had been pulled up loosely out of her face. Her face was still a bit red and puffy from the crying.

"Well, it's been a long day," Lexi said and pushed past Elena. Damon called after her, but Lexi chose to ignore him.

Elena stayed in her place, far away from Damon, saying nothing. Damon smirked. "You took my room."

"Excuse me?" she replied.

"The room Mary is in. That's where I used to stay when we lived here."

"If you're asking me to move…"

"I'm not." Damon put down the stick he'd been using to play with the fire. "I was just trying to start the conversation."

"Oh," Elena said. She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear nervously. "Why did you take me here?" she said, the first of what Damon was sure were many questions.

"We're unaware of Stefan's amount of control right now. If he.." He paused before he said "killed your mother." "If he went as far as he did last night, who knows what he is capable of?"

"Are you sure it was Stefan?" Elena asked.

"Yes, it was Stefan."

"How do you know?"

Damon didn't want to tell her that Lexi had witnessed Stefan ripping the people she loved apart in the forest so he settled for. "Lexi saw him."

"Yes, but it was dark. Lexi could have been mistaken. It could have been another…" she choked on the word. "… vampire."

Damon was beginning to become aggravated. He'd been prepared to answer her questions about vampires or their history, but not this one. "Lexi wouldn't have done this if she wasn't sure of whom it was. Besides, we have well-trained senses."

Elena paused and then said quietly. "I don't think Stefan did it."

Damon kicked the stick into the fire, finally losing a temper that had been tested all day long. "Elena, I understand this is hard for you, but there's something you need to grasp. Stefan has done this before. In fact, he did it for years. He and my father were absolute monsters that killed anyone that stepped in their path. So pardon me, if I felt the need to save your life because I was afraid your fiancé was going to drain you of all your blood!"

There was a heavy silence afterwards. Damon sighed as Elena began to tear up again. He hadn't meant to raise his voice or be so harsh, but her stubbornness was preventing her from realizing the truth.

"Stefan will try to find me, won't he?" Elena said, fear filling her voice.

Damon exhaled. He wanted so terribly to make her feel better, but he didn't know how. "Elena, do you remember what else you told me when we were in your living room?"

Elena shook her head, her brain far too preoccupied to remember that day.

"You told me to not play pretend with you, that you could handle the truth. Do you still want me to be honest with you at all times?"

Elena gulped, but slowly nodded her head.

Damon paused, allowing her decision to become more concrete. "He might… but only if he's senseless."

"What do you mean?" Elena said.

"We have something to hold against Stefan. A weapon of sorts. He would be foolish to show himself for a while."

Elena let out a breath. "You're not going to tell me what it is, are you?"

"Well, you don't trust me. Why should I trust you?"

"Who would I tell?" Elena asked incredulously.

"I'm not concerned you'd _tell_ anyone. I'm _concerned_ you'd use it against us."

Elena nodded her head in understanding. "Right." She paused before heading upstairs. "Damon, if you're going to be honest with me, I need to be honest with you."

Damon turned to look at her, curious. "What is it?"

"Those books you knocked over in the library… they were worth nothing."

Damon let out a genuine smile for the first time in a while. He remembered the last time he'd smiled like that was during that same conversation only a few days ago.

Elena let out a smile so small he almost missed it. "Goodnight, Damon."

"Goodnight."

* * *

><p><strong>Eww, right? Yes, I know. The last part sucked. But I'm trying to get you guys at least 2500 words per chapter and sometimes it has to end crappily if that's gonna happen. So I highly apologize.<strong>

**A question I have for you guys is this: would you rather have longer chapters and longer update periods, or just keep this up? Because I can extend how long it takes to update a chapter if you guys want longer ones, but if you're fine with it the way it is and like the more regular updates than that's fine too.**

**As a reward to you guys for sticking with me, I'm planning on making the next chapter a bit more light-hearted and throw in some Delena just for you precious fabulous people. So please please please put up with my crappiness for one more chapter and hopefully you guys will enjoy.**

**Love you all!**

**P.S. Going to edit this tomorrow so I can go to sleep. Apologies for any mistakes you see now.**


	6. Chapter 6: Forever and Almost Always

**I'm baaaack! I'm so sorry I didn't update on Sunday like I said I would but to repay your patience, I made this chapter about a thousand words longer! And for those of you who are reading this purely for the Delena, you're also getting a bit of a prize. :) I actually am pretty happy with this chapter, and was looking forward to writing it every time I had to take a break.**

**This is another chapter in which I _ really_ need some reviews. I know they take some time, but I put a ton of character development in this chapter and I'd love to know how you're feeling about this story. And yes, I definitely added some Delena because lord almighty, I miss it after that Dangerous Liaisons episode. GOODNESS GRACIOUS I MISS DELENA. Alright, my crazy is over.**

**Hope you enjoy (and just because I'm sure you miss it, here's my shameless plug for my tumblr: ninadobsession)!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6: Forever and Almost Always<p>

_So the story goes on down__  
><em>_The less traveled road__  
><em>_It's a variation on__  
><em>_The one I was told__  
><em>_And although it's not the same__  
><em>_It's awful close, yeah_

_In an ordinary fairy tale land__  
><em>_There's a promise of a perfect happy end__  
><em>_And I imagine having just short of that__  
><em>_Is better than nothing_

It was relatively quiet at the small house for the first few days. Elena and Mary rarely came out of their room, but Damon's hearing confirmed they were alive through small murmurs and even, but very rarely, some giggles. To respect their grieving, both Salvatores tuned out any extra things they might pick up. Lexi, who had given up on the idea of hunting after the first day, had driven to the closest general store a few hours away and gotten some "human food." She would place some in front of the girls' door around meal times. Damon always came to pick it up, and became increasingly concerned as he realized only one plate would be finished, the other merely nibbled at. As much as he wanted to burst into the room and demand that Elena eat, he couldn't risk any loss of trust at this point.

Their fourth night was when the precarious arrangement finally broke down. Damon was out hunting when he suddenly heard the argument. He rushed back to the house, and discovered Elena screaming at Lexi as Lexi tried hard to control her strong temper.

"You can't keep us locked in here forever!" Elena screamed, her face nearly purple from her frustration.

Lexi spoke through gritted teeth. Obviously this conversation had been repetitive. "We aren't planning on keeping you here forever." Damon heard her speak under her breath, "Believe me."

"Well, then tell me, please, exactly when you're planning on letting Mary and I leave." Elena crossed her arms. Damon realized that Elena actually looked her age for the first time.

"This situation is far more complicated than you can comprehend, Elena." Damon squeezed his eyes shut and brought his fingers up to pinch his nose, knowing Lexi had said the absolute worst thing she could.

Elena's mouth dropped. "_I _can't comprehend the situation? Do you understand that I have _nothing?_ I've lost everything. Both of my parents are dead, my fiancé is apparently a murderer, and I'm in the middle of nowhere with two vampires who I'm supposed to trust to not kill me or my little sister. I have practically no skills and nobody would hire me unless I worked as one of those… women." Tears began to build in Elena's eyes as she realized her exact predicament. "I have no future, no life. I've lost nearly everyone I've ever loved…" Suddenly, she bolted. Although either vampire could have predicted it, they let her run, knowing she couldn't get too far. Lexi rubbed her forehead, attempting to calm herself down.

"Everything she said was true, Damon. Do you even have an idea of what we're going to do?" Lexi said in an accusatory tone.

"No, I honestly don't," Damon spoke quietly, Elena's sobs piercing his eardrums.

Lexi let out an exasperated sigh. "Well, we need to figure it out. I'm not going to continue to take care of her. She's not some humanity project you can take on just to prove something to yourself.

Damon whipped his head up, glaring at her. Lexi's expression wasn't apologetic or regretful, so Damon tore outside, nearly breaking the door after slamming it.

Elena had given up even closer to the home than he had expected. She was buckled over on the ground, howling into the dirt. He slowly stepped towards her, not wanting to startle her into moving farther. He sat down on the ground next to her crumpled up form and surveyed the girl in front of him. What _had_ he been thinking, taking her along? She was right. A woman in this day and age with no mother, no father, and no husband would barely be able to survive. And when was he planning on letting her go? Was he even planning on it? Before he could worry about the future any longer, he slowly reached out a hand and began to softly and lightly stroke her back. He was expecting her to flinch, but her desire to be comforted apparently masked her desire to prove a point and she moved herself so that she was laying the upper half of her body in his lap.

Her sobs continued as she nearly screamed, "I want to die. I can't… I can't live with this. I can't do it. I can't."

Damon felt pain in hearing those words come out of her mouth. Wanting to die was an emotion he was well aware of. He had experienced it countless times. But hearing it from a girl who could have had so much was heartbreaking.

She turned her head slightly in his lap, looking up at him with a new fierce passion. "I want you to kill me, Damon."

"I beg your pardon?" Damon said, his eyes widening.

"Mary will only suffer if she has to depend on me for the rest of her life. If she gets placed in an orphanage afterwards, she might have a chance, but not if I'm still alive. I need you to kill me."

Damon couldn't even believe what he was hearing. "No," he said firmly.

Elena glared at him, but quickly decided on another tactic. Her eyes welled up and she looked at him with the face of a small puppy. "Damon, _please._ I already feel dead on the inside. Just let me die."

Damon almost broke. Obviously she had gotten what she wanted based off of that look before and although it was fairly convincing, he looked away and repeated himself. "No." She let out a loud groan and began to wail again.

After a few minutes of her continued cries, she calmed herself down enough to speak, murmuring the words "I have nothing" over and over again under her breath.

"Shhh," he whispered in the most soothing voice he could manage. He couldn't even remember the last time he'd comforted someone, so he racked his brain in an attempt to remember exactly what one was supposed to do. "It's alright. You'll be okay." And before he could stop himself, he said, "You have me." He corrected himself quickly. "You have us."

He continued to murmur reassuring phrases for about twenty minutes, alternating between rubbing her back and attempting to untangle her hair with his fingers. The soothing motions finally slowed her cries down to sniffling and she rolled her head backwards so she could look him in the eyes. She let another one of those smiles that he would easily miss if his senses weren't so adept.

She turned to look at the sky and mumbled, "What good is it to live with monsters if they won't even kill you when you ask nicely."

Damon let out a soft laugh, surprised she could manage humor in her condition. Her gaze focused back to him, a small sad laugh of her own falling out. The moment they were sharing seemed to highlight all of the issues they were going to face. Yet a comforting feeling settled over both of them knowing that they would be facing them together.

* * *

><p>Elena kneeled next to Mary's small bed, gently nudging her in order to wake her up. Yesterday, she had finally lost control of her emotions and strength. She'd tried to run, but she'd tripped and fallen before getting too far. The lack of energy in her body hadn't allowed her to get back up. Damon following her hadn't been surprising, but his reaction had been. Most surprising was how content she'd felt afterwards, draped over him in the middle of a dirt road, staring at the sky filled with stars. She wasn't naïve. She knew that all of her concerns still existed and the rest of her life was going to be filled with these struggles, but she'd felt eerily calm about it. She knew that the only thing to do was move forward, and she planned to do exactly that.<p>

Mary finally stirred. "Ellie?"

"Come on sweetheart, it's time to get dressed. We're going to go on an exploration today."

Mary's eyes widened a bit. "We're going to go outside?" Elena nodded. "I thought we were going to stay in this room _forever._" Elena laughed.

Mary jumped out of her bed and raced out the door in only her nightgown. Elena rushed after her, watching as she plowed into Damon's leg. "Damon, Damon, Damon! Ellie and I are going on an ex-poh-rashun today."

Damon smiled and picked up the little girl to bring her to his height. "Is that right?" Damon turned to look at Elena who had her arms crossed over her chest, smiling sheepishly. His face showed a look of concern. She corrected his thoughts quickly.

"Just around the woods and such. Nowhere too far."

Damon didn't seem too convinced, turning back to the child in his arms. "Well, isn't it fortunate that you have an expert expedition-leader living with you?"

"Really?" Mary said, in awe.

"Of course! Years ago, when I used to live here, I spent _days _exploring every inch of this land."

"When you were a kid?" Mary asked, shocked.

Damon paused realizing his error. They'd decided to wait to tell Mary about the vampire situation, so as far as she knew, Damon was in fact only 24 years old.

"Well, not _quite_ as young as you, but yes, when I was younger." Elena let out a breath she didn't realize she'd been holding.

Damon placed Mary on the ground, letting her race back to her room to get dressed. Damon then turned to Elena with a disdainful look on his face and slowly began stepping closely to her. "It won't be a problem if I accompany the two of you on your little adventure, will it?"

Elena quickly responded. "No, of course not. Although I disagree with the idea that we need a chaperone."

Damon smirked. "Well, I'm just making sure that you don't get any ideas. Plus, it's very scary in those woods."

Damon had stopped with only about two feet of space in between the two of them. "So, in other words, you don't trust me."

Damon scoffed. "Elena, I thought we've already established this: you don't trust me. I don't trust you. Therefore, you require a chaperone."

"But if I don't trust you, then why would I let you take me into the woods somewhere far away from where anybody could hear me scream?"

Damon leaned in and spoke directly into her ear. "You wouldn't have stayed this long if you were so concerned about me feeding on you."

Elena let out a shaky breath. The humid Southern heat outside felt like it was suffocating her, but she knew that it wasn't the weather that was causing her pulse to race. Damon leaned back, looking at her with a curious expression. "Elena Gilbert, do I frighten you?"

"No, of course not." She pushed him away from her personal space and began walking back towards her room. But from behind her she heard him call, "Your pulse says otherwise."

Elena slammed the door in response.

* * *

><p>After walking in the woods for nearly an hour, Elena realized anybody walking by would have thought they looked just like any other family. Mary was a few feet ahead, holding Damon's hand and listening to him tell story after story, most of which he said he was making up but Elena knew they were true. With all the years he'd lived, it was quite possible he'd gone on all the adventures he was telling Mary about.<p>

It was incredibly hot, but thankfully Elena had packed some light airy dresses for both of them. She felt a little uncomfortable in them, as they were much more revealing than the typical corseted full dresses she used to wear, but they did cover more than her nightgown and robe had been the past week.

She felt like a little kid again, exploring the woods and jumping from rock to rock when the ground became shaky. She felt a bit guilty for feeling so happy right after the horrible tragedies, but what was scarier was the sense of freedom she felt. How she'd felt before the wedding felt like so long ago, but apparently the desire to run was a lot stronger than she'd realized. Although she'd lost nearly everything, it was liberating, not that she'd ever say that out loud.

She'd been so focused on keeping her gaze on the uneven ground underneath her that she bumped into Damon's hard body. Both he and Mary had stopped in front of a large lake. She moved over, mumbling an apology to Damon, her mouth slightly open, entranced in the beauty of the water. The sunlight shined off the water like precious jewels. She flushed, immediately feeling self-conscious as she realized how long it had been since she'd taken a proper bath. She prayed to a God she'd been denying lately that she didn't smell horribly.

"Well, who wants to go swimming?" Damon had a huge grin on his face as though he'd just thought of the best idea in the world. Both Mary and Elena looked awkwardly down at their feet, attempting to ignore the enthusiastic man in between them.

"Wait, were you never taught how to swim?" Damon asked incredulously, looking back and forth between the two girls.

"No sir," Mary replied sadly. "I don't think I've ever even seen a lake before."

"She has," Elena interrupted. "She was just too young to remember it."

Damon clapped his hands together. "Well then the mystery of how we're going to deal with our boredom has been solved. He stepped forward and pivoted, turning to look at the two girls. "I'm going to teach you both how to swim."

Mary squealed. "Really? I want to swim. I want to swim."

"Absolutely not," Elena said sharply. "She could drown."

"Elena," Damon replied in a patronizing tone. "The point of teaching her how to swim is to make sure she _doesn't _drown."

Mary began tugging at Elena's dress, whining, "Please, please, please, Ellie."

"Yes, _Ellie_, pwease." Damon joined in the whining, sticking his bottom lip out.

Elena groaned. "Fine! But only because I don't care to deal with _two _children."

Damon laughed and Mary squealed with happiness. She ripped off her play dress, running around in only her undershirt and underwear. "Mary!" Elena yelled.

"Relax, Elena," Damon smiled. "She's just a kid. She can't swim in a dress."

"Well, she should learn that ripping off her clothes in public is not decent in the slightest," Elena scoffed.

"So, when are you going to?" Damon said, with a smirk on his face.

Elena's mouth dropped. "I beg your pardon?" She was shocked at his crudeness and nerve. How dare he?

"I meant," he laughed, "…when are you getting in the water?"

Elena looked at him with a dubious expression. "No, you didn't."

"Elena," he replied, the smile still on his face, "I am _offended _you would think I would be that forward with a lady of your high caliber."

"Oh, really? I would believe you if you could keep that grin off your face for more than five seconds." Elena huffed and then walked over to a large rock on the side of the lake, crossing her arms over herself. She couldn't believe he'd made such an indecent comment, yet she still felt as free and happy as she had only moments ago. In fact, she identified with how she felt after her first conversation with him in the parlor. She wondered what was wrong with her. Only a week ago she would have slapped him across the face for that remark, but now all she could think about was how much she wanted to go into the water.

Mary screamed from the side of the lake, "Damon! I want to go in _now!"_ Damon yelled back that he'd be there in a minute and approached Elena. "Once I've swum with Mary for a while, I'll help teach you."

Elena scoffed. "I'm not getting in that water with you."

"Why not?" Damon asked, surprised.

"Remember, I don't trust you."

"Ah, yes." He began to walk back to Mary, yanking off his shirt in the process. He turned back to Elena. "Well, if it gets too hot out here for you, just let me know. I'll be happy to help." He smiled and then ran towards Mary's side and began his swim lesson. Elena gulped as she recognized another emotion she'd felt that night: lust. Although this was the second time she'd seen him shirtless, she'd been far too distraught to comprehend it. Now, she comprehended it perfectly. She wondered if a strong body was a vampire thing or just a Salvatore thing. She decided it was a combination of both.

She closed her eyes and leaned back on the rock, choosing to ignore the man in front of her. The last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was how she felt like she could fly with all of this new freedom.

* * *

><p>"Elena!" Damon shouted. "Elena, wake up."<p>

Elena awoke with a start, instantly worried that something had happened to Mary. Thankfully, she saw Mary standing right next to Damon, hair damp and her play dress haphazardly placed back on. "How long did I sleep?"

"Long enough to get badly burned," Damon replied, almost sadly.

Elena, confused, lifted her arm and saw a definitely flush on her typically olive colored skin. She'd never been burned before in her life, but she'd heard that it hurt badly. Yet, she felt nothing.

"I feel fine," she said slowly, looking up at Damon for reassurance.

"Well, it takes a while for the pain to start, but believe me, it will. The sun was on you for a good two hours."

Elena couldn't believe she'd slept for so long. Mary piped in with her own comments, apparently unconcerned with her sister's future pain. "I went in the water really deep, Ellie. Damon even let go of me for a little bit and I kicked my legs and my arms and I stayed up."

Elena smiled drowsily. "That's great, Mary."

"We should go back before the sun sets," Damon said, helping Elena up. "Lexi's probably wondering where we are."

As Mary rushed ahead, going to put on her shoes, Damon kept hold of Elena's hand. She looked up from their intertwined hands and into his face. He looked incredibly pained.

"I'm so sorry, Elena," he said. "I forget about the human things sometimes. Funny, when the only reason I can stay in the sunlight is this." He turned his hand so she could see the large ring. She slowly ran a finger over its intricate design and looked up at him, curious.

"A witch spelled it for me. Vampires were meant to be creatures of the night. Nature's way of preserving our monstrous sensibilities."

"That sounds tragic, to not be able to go in the sun," Elena replied softly.

Damon smiled. "Thankfully, I didn't have to live like that for too long. Come on, your sister's getting impatient."

They began to walk towards the rambunctious girl when Elena spoke again. "There are witches, too?"

Damon let out another one of his laughs, a sound that was becoming increasingly favorable to Elena lately. "Yes, witches too."

* * *

><p>Damon had been right. Later that night, he awoke to Elena's pained cries. He slowly pushed open her door, walking into the room where Elena was standing by her bed crying softly. He wanted to touch her somehow, but knew it would only cause her more pain.<p>

"It hurts everywhere, Damon," she cried. "I don't want to lie down."

"I understand," Damon said. "Would you like to take a cool bath?"

Elena nodded, tears streaming down her face. "Come on," he said, leading her towards his room and the small washtub in it. He turned to look at Elena who looked scared. "You can't bathe me," she said with a near fearful tone.

Damon smiled. "I wasn't planning on it. I'll go wake Lexi." He stepped out of the room and closed the door behind him. Although a large part of him had wished she'd asked him to stay, he walked across the hallway to Lexi's room. After getting her to agree to help, he went outside to pump some water for the bath. Thankfully, the water was nearly ice cold.

He dropped off the water by his door and knocked to alert the two women of its arrival. He walked into the living room, since his own room was now off-limits and settled into the couch. He smiled, closing his eyes, the worry he'd had about the "Elena" situation no longer plaguing him that night. In fact, he couldn't even remember why he'd regretted his decision in the first place.

**Well, this chapter definitely wasn't as dramatic or suspenseful as others have been, but I really want Elena to have some calm after all that crazy. I did try to create some show parallels in this chapter, so I hope you can find those.**

**Again, I really hope you comment on this story because the reviews make me want to cry when I see them. The time you put into reading this story is fabulous, but when I get those beautiful thought-out reviews I just want to find you and give you a hug.**

**Thank you again for reading this story. I do think I'm going to take a bit longer to update the next chapter just because of my ridiculous schedule. Plus, my chapters seem much better when I'm not so rushed. **

**Love love love love you all.**


	7. Chapter 7: Fallen For You

**I AM SO SORRY! There, I thought I'd start this chapter off by saying that because I'm updating SO much later than I said I would. But here it is, and I think it's actually pretty good (shocking I know) and it has loads of Delena and yes that is my gift to you all for being so patient with me. **

**I do need to inform you of my new updating schedule. For Lent, I basically gave up all of the internet (if you want more of an explanation you can go to my tumblr ninadobsession) so I can only be on here on Sundays. This means that all updates for this story will come every Sunday. I'm so sorry to lower my twice-a-week update down to once-a-week but I hope you guys stick with this story.**

**Know that I get emailed every review and story alert you guys do so believe me, I'm still getting reminded of how fabulous my readers are even while I'm away.**

**Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7: Fallen For You<p>

_I think that possibly_

_Maybe I've fallen for you_

_Yes there's a chance_

_That I've fallen quite hard over you_

_I've seen the paths that your eyes wander down_

_I wanna come too_

_No one understands me_

_Quite like you do_

_Through all of the shadowy corners of me_

_I've seen the waters that make your eyes shine_

_Now I'm shining too_

_If I didn't know you, I'd rather not know_

_If I couldn't have you, I'd rather be alone_

_All of the while_

_All of the while, it was you_

* * *

><p>Elena was bed-ridden for about three days purely because of the pain. She'd never been exposed to sun like that in her life, where she was typically under a parasol or wearing much more conservative clothing. Her frustration with herself was near constant, as she desperately wanted to get out of the room and enjoy the outdoors again. How could she have been so foolish to fall asleep without any sort of protection?<p>

The only faces she saw during that time were Lexi's and Mary's. Lexi was her primary caretaker. She continued to give her the cold baths and also helped her with other simple tasks Elena could no longer do without crying out in pain. Thankfully, Lexi seemed to be softening to the idea of having Elena around. Elena knew it was mostly because, as Lexi had said, of her purpose in life to fix, but she also sensed a hint of true compassion whenever Lexi was near.

Mary only came into the room when it was time for her to sleep, or if there was something during the day that she was frantic to share with Elena. The primary reason for her continual absence was the amount Damon had been spoiling her. According to Lexi, Damon spent nearly his entire day bonding with the little girl, preparing her meals, playing with her, and continuing with their swimming lessons. Elena still couldn't believe that Damon was that good with children. Mary had a fire in her that was incredibly hard to contain, and she could be particularly hard to please. But Mary never seemed too anxious to have Elena get out of bed, so obviously Damon was doing something right. Elena had spent many of her hours trying to figure out how the fairytales she'd been told as a child hadn't come true. How could a vampire, a monster, be kind and empathetic and so eerily human?

She also spent time (an amount of time so significant she began to question her sanity) wondering why Damon had never come to visit her. She knew that he wasn't obligated to come nor were they friends, but she had a strange feeling that just seeing his face would make her feel much better.

On the fourth morning since she'd been sunburnt, Elena decided she could no longer stand to lie in bed all day. Warily, she slowly sat up in bed and began to turn so that she could step out onto the wood floors. Once she placed her feet on the ground, she began to push herself up, the part that typically hurt the most. Thankfully, there was very little pain in standing. Once up, she began to carefully twist and turn her arms in different directions and was happy to find that they were only a little bit sore. She walked forward in the room and nearly jumped for joy, the same free feeling she'd felt at the lake rushing through her veins. Finally, she would be able to do something besides stare at the ceiling.

Her enthusiasm was abruptly ended when she caught a glimpse of herself in the full-length mirror. Elena gasped in horror. Her skin looked dreadful. Half of it was still the ugly inflamed shade it had maintained the past few days. But the worst part came in the other sections, which were flaking and dry, the seared skin peeling in different directions.

But before the worry could set in, her thoughts were interrupted by a knock and a voice asking for permission to come in. She recognized it immediately, since there was only one male who would be at the door. _Damon_. He could not see her like this. First off, she was barely dressed, in her thinnest nightgown that'd she worn for the past few days as it hadn't been irritating to her sensitive skin. Yes, he'd seen her that one night when she had woken up in pain, but it had been dark and she'd been too upset to care. Now, it felt much different. Especially since layers of her skin were visibly falling off in chunks.

"Are you alright?" Damon asked. Elena cursed herself, realizing she hadn't even given him a response. She rushed towards her wardrobe to grab one of her robes and was about to go to the door when she caught another glimpse of her face in the mirror. It was probably the most affected part of her body, blistering and near scaly. Panic set in as she desperately tried to figure out how she could get away with him not seeing her face.

Suddenly she heard the door click as it opened so she grabbed the nearest thing she could find, a washcloth, and threw it over her head. She cursed herself again, as the realization of just how idiotic she was set in.

"Elena?" Damon said to her turned back. "Is everything okay? Did you hear me at the door?"

"Um, yes," she replied through the cloth on her head, dreading the moment that was surely coming.

"Oh, well, I'm sorry to enter without being invited, but I just wanted to make sure you were okay." He paused; waiting for a response she wasn't sure how to give him. But the question she'd been expecting cut in before she had a chance. "Elena? Is there a reason you have a wash cloth on your head?"

She turned around slowly, praying her improvised response would convince him that she wasn't as senseless as she surely looked. "I was just cooling my skin with a wet cloth." She was desperate to see his reaction, but unfortunately, to see it, she'd have to expose her horrid skin.

She could hear his footsteps approaching her and she tensed immediately as he tentatively placed his fingers on the cloth. "Elena, it isn't wet." She could practically hear his smirk behind his words.

"Um…" Before she could try to come up with another lie, Damon slowly tugged down on the fabric between his fingers, with enough strength to completely pull the cloth off of her head. She only gave herself a quick moment to gauge his reaction before she spun around. She heard his uncomfortable laughter at her foolishness.

"Elena? Why won't you let me see you?" he asked cautiously, not moving to touch or turn her.

She hesitated, questioning where to go from there. She realized she'd already dug herself into a hole and must have seemed certifiably insane. She instead chose to slowly turn around and face him.

His facial expression didn't change once she was in full view. No laughter, no disgust, just the same confused look she had sensed from his tone of voice. She took a deep breath before she spoke. "I didn't want you to see my face."

He stepped forward, as though he were missing something. "What's wrong with your face?"

Elena let out an exasperated sigh, frustrated with his ignorance. _How could he not see it?_ She hated that she would have to put her insecurity into actual words. "It's all…" she racked her brain for the least offensive word. "… coming off."

Damon smiled, finally comprehending exactly what she meant. He began to gradually approach her. "Yes, the burn caused some dead skin. But it's nothing to be ashamed of." He was now close enough to run his thumb slowly down the side of her cheek. She flinched, thinking about exactly what his skin was running over. "It's to be expected from a burn as bad as yours."

Elena glanced up into his eyes filled with compassion, and also another emotion she couldn't quite place. He had moved his hand so that it was under her jaw, his thumb rubbing back and forth on her cheek bone. His hand felt cool on her skin and she stopped herself before she began to lean into his palm.

She blushed, realizing just how long she'd been staring into his eyes as he cleared his throat and pulled his hand away from her face quickly. Elena made sure to look anywhere but back at him, but smiled when she saw the tray with breakfast resting on her bed. He must have brought it in before she'd turned around.

"Well, it's a good thing you're up and moving today because I wasn't going to take no for an answer," he said, breaking the moment of silence.

Elena looked up at him in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"I am going to teach you how to swim." Damon's grin lit up on his face as though he had just come up with the best idea in the world.

Elena immediately retracted. "I already told you I'm not going into that water."

"Elena-" Damon began with a near whine in his voice.

"I'm serious, Damon," Elena interrupted. "So unless you have something else in mind, I suggest you leave." She felt bad for being so harsh, but her fear of going in the water with him was too overwhelming.

Damon's grin dropped as he realized just how set she was in her decision. He sighed and rubbed his hands through his hair. He turned his gaze back to her and smiled. "May I at least take you on another walk? I'm sure you've missed the sun."

"Oh… sure. That would be fine," Elena stuttered. "I'm sure Mary would love to go."

"No, Lexi is taking care of Mary today." Elena noticed that Damon actually looked nervous to continue, almost like a little boy. "If we went, it would just be the two of us."

Elena inhaled sharply subconsciously. She knew that, prior to everything that had happened, she would never have gone into the woods with a man who wasn't her fiancé. But right now she was in her own bedroom with one while she was barely dressed and she felt unnervingly okay with it. Besides, she really wanted to go outside and she couldn't go for a walk by herself without getting lost. "Alright."

The relief rushed into Damon's eyes instantly. "Wonderful! I'll be outside whenever you've finished eating and getting dressed." He began to head towards the door. But just as Elena was turning to look despondently at her reflection, Damon turned around and said, "Elena. You look fine." She looked up at him, shocked. She noticed his eyes seemingly grow darker and before he left, she heard him say, "I promise."

* * *

><p><em>Thwack!<em> Damon let out more of his frustration onto the wood in front of him, chopping it into pieces small enough for their quaint fireplace. He was sick with himself. He'd spent the past few days practically miserable just because he hadn't even seen her. It'd taken far too much self-control to not just barge into her room because all he wanted to do was take away her pain. He had no clue what the hell was wrong with him. That phrase "absence makes the heart grow fonder" kept coming into his thoughts, but he pushed it out, letting another loud _thwack_ noise resound through the trees.

He was thankful for her childishness earlier, as it had helped shake him of his peculiar feelings. It reminded him of just how young and naïve and inexperienced she was, attempting to hide burnt skin by throwing a washcloth over her head. With every chop of the wood, he told himself he would get over this. No matter how beautiful he thought she was, no matter how many times he words or thoughts impressed him, he would not let her in any farther than she already was.

"Damon," he heard timidly behind him. He slowly turned around, and all of his previous declarations seemed to disappear. She was wearing another one of those thin floral dresses that in any other circumstance would be considered far too indecent for a woman of her previous standing. Her thick brown hair was shiny, presumably from all of the baths she'd been taking, and was tied into a loose braid over her shoulder. She had her arms crossed over her chest and was biting her lip apprehensively. He would have assumed it was her typical relentless anxiety, but he noticed something darker in her eyes. It was then that he remembered he wasn't very "decently" dressed himself, his shirt hanging on a nearby branch.

He smirked and began to lean over to grab the shirt, but suddenly his brain decided on a different course. He turned and began walking towards her, never breaking eye contact. Once he was close enough, he reached out and slowly pushed back the strands of hair that had fallen out from behind her ears. He made sure to purposely graze her cheeks with his fingers.

He knew exactly what this was, and by the way she reacted, he was sure she was too: a test. Seeing her like this, in this light had caused every single vow he'd made with himself to be forgotten. She had this uncanny ability to be appealing in two different ways. Half the time, he couldn't decide if he wanted to take care of her like she was a child, and make sure she never experienced another bad thing in her life. The other half of the time, well, he was too much of a gentleman to put it into words. But they weren't things you did with a child.

Her reaction made him lean towards the latter half. She had tensed as he approached her and the shuddering breath she'd let out when he touched her was nearly crippling. Her dark eyes had darkened even more and her eyes were locked on his lips. But the worst part was her heart that was beating so fast, a speed he'd only heard when he chased someone. He knew at that moment that the test had a result. He just wasn't sure if they'd passed or failed.

But the tension-filled moment was short-lived. Her expression changed abruptly, as her brain finally began to comprehend exactly what was happening and where they were headed and she immediately became cold. He once again sensed her decision to run and could have stopped her, but he instead just watched her as she bolted across the field and towards the direction of the trees.

* * *

><p>By the time she got to the lake, Elena was completely out of breath. She rarely ran on the plantation and she was sure that the only thing that had gotten her to that lake was the fear. The fear was something unfamiliar to her and its unfamiliarity scared her even more. She kicked off her shoes in a frustrated manner and cautiously began to inch closer to the water, allowing her sore feet to feel the cold water's edge. She pulled up her dress, being careful to not let it get wet. She sighed and closed her eyes, trying to push the ever increasing feelings out of her head. She tried to focus on the sound of the birds and the breeze and the feel of the sun on her still slightly sore skin.<p>

After about twenty minutes, she had finally distracted herself enough to forget about the day's events. But this peace was quickly interrupted by the voice behind her. "Do you care to tell me what you're thinking right now, Elena?"

She didn't dare turn around. She didn't trust herself. So she just stared out on the water, trying to figure out just how to respond. She was experiencing a thousand different emotions and she wasn't sure how to pick just one. When she finally settled on one, she could barely say it out loud.

"Is it wrong to miss him? After what he did?" She was glad that she wasn't looking at him when she spoke. She knew that looking directly into his eyes would have made her start to cry.

Damon didn't respond, just staying silent on the shore behind her. She knew the best thing she could do was change the subject, but she continued to speak anyways.

"I just… it's like my brain is betraying me. It continually reminds me of all of his good qualities and the wonderful times we spent together. And right when I'm convinced that I made a mistake and I still love him… all of those horrible things… they come back. And I feel like I'm going to break but…" It was then that she turned around to see how he was reacting to her rambling and he was simply looking at her intensely waiting for her to finish.

She turned back to the water, knowing she could only finish her sentence if she wasn't looking at him. After a few minutes of silence, she spoke again. "… but then there's you."

She took a deep breath and locked her eyes on the spot in the water a few feet ahead of her that she could see was deep enough. Before he could even react, she dived into that spot, finally feeling the perfect coolness of the water she'd been denying herself.

She had little time to enjoy it though because she suddenly felt two arms grasping her from behind and pulling her up into the air. She gasped, and once both their heads were above water she yelled loudly and tried to struggle her way out of his tight grip. "What are you doing? Let go of me."

"Are you crazy? You just tried to kill yourself." Damon spit out some of the water he'd gracelessly inhaled when going under to save her.

A smile broke out on her face, followed by a laugh, and then she was laughing so hard she could barely breathe. Then she began to laugh harder after realizing the irony that she was having trouble breathing after she was no longer underwater.

"What are you laughing about?" Damon was still confused, but a small smirk was appearing on her face. He'd never in his life seen her this happy.

After she calmed herself down enough to speak, she said "I can swim! I forgot I told you I couldn't. I learned how to swim without my mother's permission so I never told anyone. I can't believe you thought I just tried to drown myself." She began to laugh even harder.

Damon smiled a bit, and cocked his head, just admiring her laughter. He was still holding her in the water, but he'd pulled her up to a place where he could stand. She slowed down her laughter after realizing the way he was looking at her.

"What is it?" Elena said. She recognized too late how comfortable she felt in this position with him.

Damon bowed his head for a second, almost sheepishly and then looked back up at her. "I've never done this before, but I'm going to ask you something."

Elena looked at him nervously, but slowly nodded her head. Her brain began to run through every possible question he could ask her.

"Elena," he paused. "May I kiss you right now?"

Elena was fairly sure her heart stopped. In another time, another place, even a day ago, her mind would have given her a thousand different responses. But right then, her voice only allowed one.

"Yes."

* * *

><p><strong>On a scale of 1 to Elena after Damon snapped Jeremy's neck, how mad at me are you? Once again, I must type I'M SORRY. I'm a big fan of good chapter endings and I just didn't think the actual kiss had a very good ending. But good news is: you get to start a chapter off with the big kiss. Wahoo! (I tried to spin it positively.)<strong>

**Well, I hope this helped satisfy all of the people that really wanted to see some Delena. I really liked the progression of this chapter but I'm also highly open to your opinions so please make sure to let me know how you felt about it in the comments.**

**P.S. For those of you that are wondering where Stefan is, don't worry. I'm not done with him yet. He's coming back _soon._ ;)**

**I will see you all on Sunday!**


	8. Chapter 8: Good and Bad

**I'm so sorry about the day-later-than-expected update. I planned on uploading it last night but FF was being a butt and wouldn't let me. So just because I love you, I'm breaking the internet fast for just a moment to upload this for you so you don't have to wait a whole two weeks. **

**Now, there is something I need to address and it's really important. In the past few weeks, my views and number of reviews have dropped _drastically._ It's almost depressing. Now I realize this story isn't performing at its 100 percent best lately but it's incredibly difficult for me to tell what needs work if I have no reviews. Although writing this story is beneficial for me, I don't write it for myself. I write it for you all that enjoy it. I want to be able to change/manipulate it enough that you all are still able to come to this story and leave happy. **

**So here's where you come in. If you read this, I'm begging you to write a review _with at least one critique_. Yes, I'm aware of how insane I sound. But I can't bear to let this story drown in crappiness so I truly need all of your help. Obviously, I would prefer if they weren't comments like "u suck" but I'm really not going to be too picky here.**

**So thank you in advance for your comments. Again, even if I'm not on the internet, I still get the emails with them so I can take them to heart. For those of you that were cranky with me for my last ending, it's starting right where it left off :)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8: Good and Bad<p>

_This is how the story went  
>I met someone by accident<br>Who blew me away  
>Blew me away<br>And It was in the darkest of my days  
>When you took my sorrow and you took my pain<br>And buried them away, buried them away_

_I wish I could lay down beside you_  
><em>When the day is done<em>  
><em>And wake up to your face against the morning sun<em>  
><em>But like everything I've ever known<em>  
><em>You'll disappear one day<em>  
><em>So I'll spend my whole life hiding my heart away<em>

Damon had been alive for decades. He'd experienced far more than any one person would be able to experience in five lifetimes. He'd traveled to different countries. He'd seen immeasurable beautiful sights. He'd eaten countless different foods. But in that moment, he wondered what exactly he'd been doing with his life because the sheer amount of joy he felt was incomparable to any that he'd experienced before. And it was purely caused by one word.

Although she'd said yes, he checked her eyes a dozen times while leaning in. And although he saw the same nervousness she always had around him, he also saw an anticipation that encouraged him to continue. He touched his lips to hers, as gingerly as possible. He didn't dare push too far with the girl that could run three miles simply from a touch of the cheek. For the first few moments, their lips didn't move but he could feel her losing her inner battle of restraint through the way she leaned into his arms.

But his politeness could only last for a few seconds because his self-control disappeared the instant she breathed into the kiss. He took advantage of her partially open mouth and deepened the kiss. He was exhilarated by the opportunity, but he was still nervous about what exactly would happen when this stopped. But his fears diminished when she took the hands that had been against his chest and lifted them to place one on his neck and one in his hair.

He smiled into the kiss when he realized he could have done this for an eternity. The benefits of being immortal were very few, but the reminder of this one made the kiss all the more enjoyable. He couldn't remember if he'd ever felt this way about a woman, but he had a large suspicion that this was the first time the thought had ever crossed his mind.

Although it pained him, he didn't want Elena to be the one to break the kiss. So he slowly withdrew and leaned back, waiting for her to open her eyes. It took her a few shuddering breaths but she finally opened them, her brown eyes the same deep dark shade he was beginning to crave. He was fairly sure he now understood the nervousness she seemed to constantly feel because at that moment he could only worry about what her reaction would be.

She let out another breath, this one steadier than the last few and the blood rose to her cheeks as she hastily licked her lips and cleared her throat. He realized he might have to be the first to speak if there was going to be any exchange between the two.

"What are you thinking about, Elena?" he asked, nearly the same question he'd uttered only minutes earlier.

She let out a small smile to match his and spoke quietly. "Damon, I don't think I can narrow it down." Her gaze made him nervous so he looked down into the water between them. Amazingly, she didn't accept his anxiety and she took her fingers to pull his chin up so that he was looking at her. He was surprised by the nurturing gesture. "But I think it's… _good_. It's mostly good."

Her stare was convincing enough to make him nod his head. Although her words hadn't been too verbose, it perfectly described how he felt. Everything at that moment seemed foggy but it felt right. It felt good.

Damon could have stayed there for hours, but he realized that she was trying to hide her shivering. He cursed himself as he once again forgot about something human: goose bumps. He traced the quickly developing bumps on her skin and they shared a sad smile, both realizing that the imaginary world they'd been playing in was now hurriedly disappearing. An idea began to form in his brain.

"I have one more boundary to break with you," he said with a near wicked grin on his face. Much of the color in her face drained out as he laughed. "Just hold on."

He rushed them to the shore, so quickly that she didn't even have time to change her expression. It took her a few moments to fully grasp what had just happened and then she let out an uneasy laugh. "Did I faint?"

He chuckled. "No. It's another gift of being a vampire: speed."

Elena smiled up at him. "You continue to surprise me, Mr. Salvatore."

Damon smirked. "You as well, Ms. Gilbert."

* * *

><p>Elena smiled at the man who was now swimming in the lake. She'd made sure to sit in the shade as she watched him. After they'd arrived on shore, she'd been exhausted while he felt the need to rid himself of some energy. He had offered to take her back to the house, but she couldn't imagine spending any more time indoors then was necessary. Besides, after what had just occurred, she wasn't sure she could manage being apart from him.<p>

Every time she thought about what had just happened, she couldn't keep the blush off of her cheeks. Her mind continued to analyze every detail of their kiss and all the events surrounding it. If someone had told her a week ago that she would have been kissing her former fiancé's brother in a lake, she would have assumed that person was insane. When he'd asked her what she was thinking, she honestly hadn't been able to answer him. She would never be able to count the thoughts that had been running rampant through her mind at that moment, let alone speak them out loud. But she was still content with the word she'd chosen because the overall message her brain was giving her was… _good._

She couldn't believe how much had changed in the past few days. Nearly every aspect of her life had been altered radically. But there was a growing part of her that was beginning to feel relaxed. She couldn't seem to fight the feeling that this new world she lived in could become permanent and it was increasingly difficult to find problems with that. Living a simple life in a cabin, far away from all decorum or expectations while raising Mary seemed to be an ideal situation. She began to blush even more when she realized that every time she imagined this type of future, Damon was automatically in it. He was there in the kitchen, cooking their dinner. He was there in the yard, chopping wood for a fire. He was there in their bedroom – She cut herself off from that thought, fairly sure that she would faint if any more blood went to her face.

Her smile was quickly dropped as she began to think on the fact that she hardly knew the man she had just kissed. Indeed, she had hated him. She'd slapped him and cursed him under her breath. The only reason she'd become intrigued by him was his willingness to save her and her sister and his kindness while there. But she realized that before anything continued, she needed some answers from him.

After Damon had finished swimming, he came up onto the shore with a huge grin on his face. Elena knew that she needed to have a serious conversation with him, but his lack of a shirt was alarmingly distracting. He plopped down next to her, but arranged himself in the sun so he could dry off more quickly. They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes before Damon spoke.

"We can head back if you'd like to see Mary," he said, running his fingers through his hair in an attempt to rid himself of the excess water. "I'm sure you miss her."

"I'll be alright for a little while longer," Elena replied. "I was actually hoping you could answer some questions for me."

Damon looked at her inquisitively but responded, "I'd be happy to oblige."

Elena sighed and contemplated her word choice before continuing. "I don't desire to hate you, but I need to know if there's a reason to. Will you be honest with me?"

"I cannot imagine being another way with you," Damon stated straightforwardly.

Elena let out another breath. "What happened between you and your family all those years ago?"

Damon's eyes softened rapidly. "Elena-"

"No, Damon," she interrupted. "I need to know this about you. You have to tell me."

Damon let out a large breath and stared out at the water. They were silent as Damon gathered his thoughts.

"It was about a hundred years after our transformation," Damon began. "When we turned, we all made the decision after some time to only hunt animals. We had no desire to kill humans any longer." Elena gulped at his use of the term "any longer." An image of Damon murdering someone flashed before her eyes and she grew tense. "We didn't last very long. Our bodies grew weak quickly. Over time, we learned you could drink from people without killing them simply by compulsion-"

Elena interrupted again. "Compulsion?" she asked, furrowing her brow.

Damon let out a breath, hesitant to explain. "Compulsion is another one of a vampire's… gifts. In its simplest form, it's mind control. For feeding, we can compel people to believe that they were attacked by an animal. They forget their experience with us and if asked about their injuries, they will say with full confidence that there was an animal in the woods." Damon paused. Without even checking for her reaction he said, "No. To answer your question, no, I've never compelled you. I've thought about it when you wouldn't leave the plantation, but…I couldn't do that to you."

Elena took a moment to absorb the new information but then urged him on. "Continue."

Damon regarded her, to see if he should truly go on but began to speak again. "With some practice, Lexi and I were able to do it. But Father and Stefan… they just couldn't find the control within themselves. They were like rabid dogs, living only for the blood." He leaned in towards Elena who did her best to not lean farther back. "Being a vampire is a curse. It gives you all of the attributes of a cruel monster. There's a way to turn off your humanity as a vampire so that you feel nothing. No love, no pain, nothing. It's incredibly tempting. I mean, nobody wants to experience the _bad_ things in life, especially since everything is heightened as a vampire. But one cannot forget that life is filled with _good_ emotions as well." With that sentence, Damon pointedly looked at Elena who let only the lightest of blushes on her face.

Damon kept his gaze, apparently thinking that he had answered her question. But Elena still needed to know more. "That still doesn't explain why Stefan seemingly abhors you but loves Lexi."

Damon's affectionate look turned down a little. "I don't know why you're asking me this question. I'm fairly sure my brother explained exactly why he dislikes me."

"He did," Elena answered. "But I want to hear it from you."

Damon's gaze was now back on the water. He wasn't responding to her inquiry. Elena stared at him waiting. "Damon?" He still wouldn't respond. She began to grow frustrated. "Damon, tell me why you left your family. Is Stefan lying?" Damon didn't respond, but his head did the slightest of nods indicating that he hadn't. "Well, if he's not lying, then I want to hear why you abandoned them." He still refused to speak so Elena resigned to yelling, "Damon!"

"I can't!" Damon yelled back. His tone softened a bit after realizing his prior harshness. "I can't tell you."

Elena huffed, now completely irritated. "You can't tell me? Really? Gosh, you've got to be the most maddening..." She trailed off, pushing herself up off the ground. Damon quickly got up himself in an effort to stop her.

"Elena, wait!" Damon called after her. She whirled around, glaring at him. "I'm sorry. I'll-I'll tell you whatever you need to know."

"Then tell me why you left!" Elena screamed. Damon just stared at her, with an indecipherable emotion on his face. Elena took his silence as his answer. "Don't follow behind me. I don't need to see you right now… or for a while."

* * *

><p>Elena fumed the entire way back to the house. Why wouldn't he tell her? He'd told her he wouldn't treat her like a child, yet whatever reason he'd left was apparently too much for her to handle. He said Stefan hadn't lied, yet he didn't even dare to explain a situation that only put him in a bad light. She would have been able to handle it. She hadn't been expecting Damon to be a saint, but the angrier she got, the more she began to see him as the devil.<p>

But her thoughts towards Damon quickly disappeared when she came upon the house. Immediately, her feelings could only be described as… _bad._

Every muscle in her body tensed as she realized something was horribly wrong. The door to the house was ripped off of its hinges. The horses that were typically tied up behind the house were now galloping frantically in the field. Everything was silent. Elena suddenly regretted telling Damon to stay far behind. She sent a quick prayer up, begging that Mary and Lexi weren't near the house at the time.

She finally worked up enough courage to move forward and walk up the porch steps. The house had been torn apart, various objects flung in different directions. There were broken plates and smashed pieces of wall. Cushions had been ripped to pieces and there was broken glass on the ground. Elena began to walk down the hallway, but instantly realized it was a bad decision.

"Hello, Elena."

Elena whirled around and came face to face with Stefan. Her heart stopped and she couldn't even fathom breathing. He was grinning at her sadistically. Everything was going blurry at the shock, but she was fairly sure she smelled blood.

"I'm really sorry to have to do this to you… but you did leave me at the altar, so fair is fair."

Before Elena could react, it went black.

* * *

><p>Damon, after giving Elena enough time to make her way alone, was nearing the small house. He was ridiculously frustrated, desperate to go back to the moments before that awful conversation. He should have known it was coming. Besides, in all his years of living, everything <em>good<em> always turned out _bad_.

Before he could dwell on it any longer, he had come upon the house. The door flung off the frame, he immediately knew that something terrible had happened. "Elena," he whispered under his breath.

Damon rushed in to the house, screaming almost ferally, "Elena!" He barely noticed the disaster the interior was, desperately searching for any sign of the girls.

He was at the point of accepting they were gone when he came upon Elena's limp body, collapsed on the floor. Damon ran to pick her up, cradling her in his arms. He thanked a god he didn't believe in when he realized she was still breathing. He took her into the nearest room, his, and carefully draped her on his bed. He stroked her hair for a few seconds before he got up to check the rest of the house.

He had barely gotten through his door when he heard softly behind him, "Damon." He whipped around, returning to the bed side where Elena was slowly stirring from unconsciousness.

"Elena, are you okay? Does anything hurt?" he asked gently.

She sluggishly brought her hand towards her cheek, an area that was growing more inflamed and bruised. But suddenly she shot up, her face white. "Elena, what is it? What's wrong?"

"It was Stefan," she mumbled, completely stricken with fear. "Damon, I came in and everything was broken and I turned around and Stefan… he hit me."

Damon's eyes that had been filled with compassion were now filled with anger. He stood up furiously, pacing madly around the room, as Elena slowly gained her footing on the ground. He heard her gasp behind him. "Mary and Lexi."

They both tore into Elena and Mary's room but there was nothing and no one in there. In fact, the room hadn't been touched by Stefan's destructive hands. As Damon continued to search the room for any sign of a clue, Elena went to check Lexi's room. Damon was about to head back to the main room but stopped when he heard Elena's scream.

He bounded into Lexi's room where Elena was leaning over a body: Lexi's. He rushed towards his sister's form, lying helplessly on the ground. Through her chest was a large stake, fashioned from the demolished bed frame. Elena was crying next to her, barely able to comprehend all that had occurred. Damon couldn't feel anything, the shock nearly crippling him. His sister was dead.

Damon fell a bit from his position sitting on his heels onto the hardwood floor underneath him. Stefan had killed Lexi. He realized in that moment that Stefan must have completely lost all humanity to kill the family member he cared about most.

Damon felt a small cold hand rest on top of his. He turned and looked at Elena, but she was simply staring at the floor, continuing to silently cry. The emotions hadn't hit him yet, but her comforting gesture made him feel the slightest bit calmer.

After a few moments, Elena got up and started to walk towards the desk in the corner of the room. Damon's eyes never left Lexi's form until he heard Elena inhale sharply. "Damon."

He stood up and walked over to Elena who was holding a piece of stationary in her hands. Damon took the paper from her hands and before even reading the message he knew exactly whose handwriting it was.

_"How could you be so foolish as to run when you know I live for the chase?"_

* * *

><p><strong>So, I'm really insecure about this chapter. This was my first time writing a kiss scene and I'm not sure if I did it much justice. I'm also a bit concerned that I didn't make Lexi sympathetic enough. It just became difficult in developing the characters of Elena and Damon that I couldn't give her the "page time" she deserved. Just FYI, I'd been planning on killing her from the beginning. I say that so you know that I didn't do that just to get rid of her because she was "pointless" or something like that.<strong>

**I am happy that we're bringing some drama back because I feel like I write that aspect better than the romantic side (feel free to disagree). Besides, Damon and Elena just aren't that great without a little angst. I also am excited to bring back some Stefan POV just because I miss writing him. I am nervous though that having no humanity makes it a bit more difficult to write. But we shall see. **

**Once again, I beg of you to leave your _critiques_ in the reviews because I know I need them. I know something is wrong. I just don't know what exactly is.**

**Next update on Sunday! **

**love love love :)**


	9. Chapter 9: Blindsided

**Hello everybody. So I'm fairly sure not a single one of you took my challenge last week to give me criticisms which was... okay it was sweet. You guys were far too kind. I guess those of you that are hating are hating quietly. So this chapter is written a bit differently than a typical chapter. I had my song inspiration and couldn't pick just a few verses to list at the top so I decided to write it almost like a song fic. The story is broken up by the song lyrics that relate to each section. Sorry but I can't help it when I'm this addicted to the song :)**

**Just so you guys are aware, I'm thinking this story is going to be done in about 3-4 more chapters max. I definitely thought it was going to be longer in my head, but when I'm writing 3000+ words a chapter, the action goes by quickly. But the good news is the other day I got this other story idea in my head that I'm so freaking excited about. It's completely different (at least it feels like it) than this story is, but that's what makes it so exciting. So once this story is done, I'll most likely hop right into that one.**

**Hope you all enjoy and remember reviews = the Ian to my Nina 3**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9: Blindsided<p>

_Back down, down to the downtown_

_Down to the lockdown..._

_Boards, nails lie around_

"We have to go," Elena said suddenly. "Now. I'm going to get the horses."

"Go where, Elena?" Damon asked with an exhausted tone to his voice. They'd both been stuck in a state of shock after finding Lexi but it was quickly fading as rational thought began to take over.

"To find Mary, Damon!" Elena replied incredulously. "Where else would I need to go?"

"You understand that most likely finding Mary means finding Stefan."

"Yes, I've established that."

Damon stood up from his seated position to face her. "How exactly do you think that's going to work out? We find them and Stefan happily hands over Mary, saying 'That was a fun game of hide-and-seek. Maybe we can play again next Saturday?"

"Of course not, but this is Mary. And the longer we sit here staring at our shoes and thinking this through, the farther he gets with her and the less of a chance we have of finding her before…" Elena broke off, attempting and failing to keep the tears out of her eyes.

Damon sighed, approaching her and taking her face between his hands. "I know, Elena. I know. But we have absolutely no idea where they went. North, south, underground, he didn't leave us any clues. He could have gone anywhere he wanted to and he can go ten times faster than that carriage could if he so desires." He realized that he wasn't telling her what she wanted to hear as her eyes began to fill up with even more tears. "But Stefan wants us to find him. This is all just some sort of sick game to him. He won't be satisfied in just taking Mary. He doesn't have a purpose for her. He just wants to take his revenge."

Elena numbly nodded her head in response, but she was shaking. Damon was uneasy when it came to comforting a woman. He realized the only times he'd been faced with a woman crying were when he was drinking from them. He shuddered, brushing the thought away, and slowly removed his hands from the sides of her face.

He turned away to leave, needing to clear his head so he could think out their plan. But before he could leave the room, he felt his body turn back around and wrap his arms around her frame. Her body stayed still, arms by her sides, but he felt her lean into his chest and let out a deep breath she'd obviously been holding.

Damon realized a few days later that he hadn't hugged someone in over a century.

_I crouch like a crow_

_Contrast in the snow_

_For the agony I'd rather know_

Stefan sat on the bed with his head in his hands, thankful the small girl had stopped crying for once. Of course, he had helped that process along with a bit of compulsion, but he was grateful for some silence all the same. He slowly pulled his head up and regarded the room he was in, one of many that had become a playground for him. It looked, like all of the other rooms on the plantation, like a tornado had gone through it. Ripped tapestries, broken glass, and turned-over furniture littered the room. Stefan had always enjoyed taking something beautiful and destroying it.

The plantation had lost all of its original splendor. He'd thought about traveling far away, but instead decided he wanted to cause just a little more pain to the people he knew best. He thought it to be an odd remnant of his humanity, but he got bored easily. Torturing people seemed to be the only way he could be entertained these days.

Giuseppe wasn't like that. He just liked to feed, plain and simple. He didn't care to wait around or be teased with the blood. When Stefan had discovered that Elena, Mary, and his siblings had left, Giuseppe wanted to just run like they did in the old days, drinking from and killing the innocent. But Stefan wasn't satisfied. He was angry over how much he'd lost. He wanted to torture them, but Giuseppe could have cared less. After arguing for a while, Stefan discovered one day that Giuseppe had simply left with no indication as to where he went. Stefan, of course, felt no grief over the loss of his father's companionship. He just kept moving forward.

He'd spent the first few of his days as a re-born ripper tearing the plantation apart, a symbol of all that he'd thrown away. Whenever someone passed by and was alarmed by the destruction and lack of the Gilbert family, Stefan was already waiting, making sure no one could run to town to report what they'd seen.

But he was simply allotting some time for Damon, Elena, and Lexi. He wanted them to be as comfortable as possible, unsuspecting that their new lives would soon be disrupted by a monster. After Stefan was fairly sure that everyone in town had been taken care of, he let the game begin.

_'Cause blinded_

_I am blindsided_

Elena was slumped over in a chair in the kitchen as Damon sat in another chair rubbing his forehead with his fingers. They'd been there for a few minutes, Elena distressing about Mary and Damon trying to formulate a plan.

Suddenly, Elena shot up and began rapidly tapping Damon until he opened his eyes. He warily opened one, but became more alert after he saw how excited she looked.

"When we first got here, when I was scared about Stefan finding us, you told me that he wouldn't try it because you had a weapon," Elena looked expectantly at Damon waiting for his response.

Damon sighed, taking his time to respond. "I've thought about it, Elena, but the weapon isn't exactly easy to find. In fact, we'd probably have far more luck finding Stefan than the weapon."

Elena let a small pout cross her face and was about to back to her original state. Instead, her curiosity got the best of her. "Why would you tell me about an impossible to find weapon? I mean, were you just trying to comfort me?" She paused. "If it is so difficult to find, why would Stefan be afraid of it?"

"Oh, he's still terrified," Damon said quickly. "If we had the weapon, he wouldn't breathe on us. But he knew we didn't."

Elena sighed sadly and let some silence settle over them before she spoke again. "What will we do when we're faced with him, Damon? You're not going to let me near him, I'm sure, and I don't want you anywhere near him unless you're certain you'll come out alive. I won't lose you to him." Elena grasped his hand gently as she spoke. He met her eyes and she blushed. "I won't lose anybody else to Stefan."

Damon wasn't quite sure he could guarantee that to her. He couldn't guarantee he wouldn't want to rip Stefan to shreds the moment he saw him. He also held no doubt that he would throw himself in front of Elena or Mary if it was ever an issue. But instead of giving her any more to worry about, he instead just rubbed his thumb reassuringly over hers.

"Well, are you going to tell me what it is?" Elena asked.

Damon cocked his head in confusion. "The weapon," Elena said. "What is it?"

Damon let a small smile cross his face. "The weapon isn't a 'what.' It's a '_who_.'"

_Peek in_

_Into the peer in_

_I'm not really like this_

_I'm probably plightless_

Stefan was interrupted from his thought process when he heard a quiet voice say, "Stefan?"

He slowly rose from his position and turned towards the door frame where the small girl was standing. She was attempting to look threatening by crossing her arms over her chest, but her shaking body gave her true feelings away. Stefan's ears were flooded with the sound of her rapidly beating heart. Typically, rippers had no limits to who they would kill. Anyone from infants to the elderly weren't safe from their vicious teeth. But Stefan had never found the appeal in feeding on small children. They typically didn't fight as hard as those older did. Plus, they just weren't much of a challenge.

"Stefan, why did you become mean?" Mary said defiantly.

Stefan couldn't contain his laughter. "You think I'm _mean?_"

Mary huffed. "Of course I do. You took me from Ellie and you didn't come with us after Mama died."

Stefan stared at the girl in confusion so she continued. "When Mama died, you broke your engagement with Elena. _That_ was mean_._"

Stefan realized what Mary meant. Apparently Elena hadn't discussed the full terms of what had happened. Oddly enough, he thought that was… _kind_ of her. "Well, your sister isn't exactly the nicest person in the world, Mary."

Mary pouted. "You're just jealous that she's with Damon."

Stefan gritted his teeth a bit. "She's not with Damon, Mary."

Mary put on a childish smirk. "Not yet. But she will be soon. Damon's nice. He's teaching me how to swim."

Stefan was tired of playing with Mary. He was about to compel her to leave when she started to talk again. A small smile appeared on her face. "Stefan, do you remember that time we went into town with Mama and Elena?"

Stefan grumbled a bit but obliged the girl. "Yes."

"We went to the store and you bought me candy because you said that I had been so polite the whole way there. And you carried me on your shoulders until we got to the theater and then when I got bored you played games with me and then when we got home I got scared in my bed and I ran to your room and you let me stay in there the whole night because I was scared of the monsters under my bed."

"Yes…" Stefan wished the rambling child would get to her point quickly.

"I asked you the next morning why you did that and you said it was because you wanted me to feel protected."

"Yes, Mary, why are you telling me this?" he said briskly.

She paused and looked at him for a moment and then reached her hand out and pressed it delicately to his cheek. "Did you take me to protect me, Stefan? Because if you did, you didn't have to. I was happy there. I was safe."

Stefan looked into the small child's big brown eyes, staring at him with the kind of genuine sincerity that only a child could muster. He knew the old Stefan would have broken down immediately, embracing the little girl and getting her back to Elena and Damon as quickly as possible.

But that wasn't an option any longer. Stefan let out a small laugh. "Oh, Mary, I'm not protecting you from the monsters." The little girl cocked her head, confused. His smile grew sadistic. "I am the monster." As he spoke, his face transformed into his vampire state with the deep veins under his eyes and fangs protruding. Mary screamed at the top of her lungs and raced out, locking herself into a nearby room. Stefan smirked and spoke to himself, "Much better."

_I come through the window_

_I'm crippled and slow_

_For the agony I'd rather know_

"Your weapon is a person?" Elena asked, dumbfounded.

"Yes," Damon replied. "He's the only man in the world that could scare Stefan into submission."

"How is that possible? What does he have that could make Stefan afraid of him?"

"He's a vampire hunter. If we found him, we could… kill Stefan." Damon watched Elena gulp. "But sometimes he just likes to bind them into some form of slavery, especially if he carries a strong dislike for them."

"Is that why you don't want to find him?" Elena asked. "Are you afraid he would take you as well?" She looked nervous to hear his answer.

"No, he doesn't want me," Damon reassured her. "He only wants the ones that are on a rampage, such as a ripper. Anyone who's just killing to kill is on his hit list. He has a sort of obsession with making sure he is the controlling force in the supernatural world."

"How does he capture them, so to speak? It seems that a vampire could easily kill a human."

Damon laughed softly. "He's not human, Elena. He's a vampire. An Original vampire actually." Elena's face flooded with confusion. "As in, he was part of the first group of vampires there ever was. That means he has far more strength than any vampire on this earth. There isn't even a known way to kill them."

Elena sighed. "Well, I think he's our only hope, Damon. If Stefan caused any sort of… death problem in Mystic Falls, he might already have heard about it. I think we should head back there, and maybe we'll find him."

Damon smiled. "Of course, you would be smarter than me."

Elena laughed. "Alright, let's go find…?" She paused looking for a name.

"Klaus. Let's go find Klaus."

_Would you really rush out?_

_Would you really rush out for me now?_

After a day or so of travel, Elena and Damon arrived in Mystic Falls. As they'd suspected, the city was almost a ghost town. Elena's eyes had filled with tears as they'd driven through the now desolate settlement. She wondered how many of her friends and neighbors had been killed by Stefan's vicious hand, or teeth if she wanted to be exact. Thankfully, Damon was up front driving so he couldn't see the tears roll down her cheeks in the closed-off carriage.

They pulled off to the side, next to an old inn in the center of downtown. Damon entered first, checking to see if anyone was around but the entire building and block were deserted. He went back to the carriage and pulled open the door to help Elena out.

She knew that a hotel wasn't exactly the finest option for a place to spend the night, but Damon had been polite enough to realize that staying at the plantation was sure to bring back far too many memories, good and bad. Besides, she was exhausted from the day of travel and emotions so the faster she could attempt to sleep, the happier she was. When they entered, Damon grabbed two keys from behind the desk and headed up the stairs, unlocking one room for her and another for him.

She was sitting on the bed, slightly shaking when he came back from his own room a few minutes later. "Are you hungry at all?" Elena's emotions had drained her of all appetite, but her stomach's well-timed growl told her otherwise. Damon let out a small laugh and said, "We might be able to find something in the kitchen. Come on."

When they'd come back downstairs, they found a door that led to a connecting bar. Damon let himself into the kitchen as Elena placed herself on a barstool, smiling softly as she swiveled in it like a child. Of course, thinking about children instantly moved her thoughts towards Mary. Her sudden joviality was quickly dulled as she prayed her sister was still alive.

"I didn't think I would find such a beauty in such an unpleasant town." Elena's heart stopped completely. Every hair on her arm stood up and every muscle in her body tensed hearing the British accent behind her.

"Klaus," she shuddered.

_Taut line_

_Down to the shoreline_

_The end of a blood line_

_The moon is a cold light_

"I found something we could put together for you..." Damon trailed off as he entered back into the bar. Klaus was smirking, standing with Elena in his arms. He had her hair tangled in his fingers, her head pulled back at an angle so that her neck was right underneath his fanged mouth. He was smiling sadistically, while Elena had tears and panic filling her eyes.

"Damon, so nice of you to stop by," Klaus spoke, his voice dripping with malice. "But I'm going to have to skip the formalities and get straight to my intentions. You will tell me where your brother is right this instant, or I will drain your little human friend's blood until she's no longer breathing. Are we clear?"

Damon knew any sudden movements and Elena would be dead. Klaus was completely serious. In his mind, the end qualified the means. He spoke slowly and calmly. "I have no clue where Stefan is."

Klaus growled. "Don't make me compel you into telling me the truth. That's a little ridiculous, don't you agree?"

"You can compel me as much as you want, but my answer will still be the same. We're on your side here, Klaus. In fact, we were looking for you so that we could stop Stefan. So please, just let Elena go and we'll discuss this."

Klaus smirked and yanked his hands out of Elena's hair. She stood still for a second, watching for any sudden movements of his before bolting towards Damon's side who stepped protectively in front of her. "I guess the dramatics would waste some valuable time. I would much rather just move on to the finding Stefan part." He sauntered over to a wooden chair on his left and sat down casually. "I've heard far too many reports about the incredible population decrease in this town. After hearing a few more details, I started to recognize some… Stefan tells. So I headed over here to pay him a little visit. Now, there's no chance in hell he's going to stay put if he knows I'm here." He paused and grinned at them. "Thankfully, I just found my bait."

_There's a pull to the flow_

_My feet melt the snow_

_For the irony I'd rather know_

__**So, terrible or horrible? I think the thing I hate the most about this chapter was writing Stefan. I just had no clue how to make him completely emotionless so there is a bit more humanity in his character than I would have originally liked. I hope that doesn't throw you all off too much.**

**Yay for Klaus. Yes, this was something else I'd planned from the beginning. I have such a JoMo obsession I couldn't not include him in this story. Plus, even though I've only written like 5 lines of his, I've discovered how much fun he is to write. Like goodness gracious, I get giddy just thinking about it. **

**I think what was crazy about this chapter were all the mini cliffhangers. I felt like I could have ended the chapter in a hundred different places but I wanted to make sure you got the typical word amount you all usually do.**

**For those of you that are about to give up because you're thinking, "Umm, I signed up for an M rated fic" don't you worry. That is being worked out as we speak (actually as you read this) and I'm really excited about it. :)**

**Please please please review (believe me the whole criticism thing is still open) and I will see you all in a week.**


	10. Chapter 10: Skinny Love

**Hello wonderful, wonderful readers. Happy 10th chapter! Goodness gracious, how many times can I tell you that I'm ridiculously grateful for you? For my first ever fanfiction, you guys have been the most supportive wonderful followers and I just wish I could somehow ship cookies to your house. There's been a few readers that have reviewed every single chapter and literally every time I get the email, it's like my heart stops. I know many of you by your names now so when you comment it's like hearing from a friend.**

**I want to preface this chapter by saying that 1) I used probably the most overused song for the inspiration for this chapter and 2) I've started using other fics for inspiration. Nothing like copying wise, but I've realized that reading other fics has helped me to keep the writing flow going. I actually had never read Georgia on my Mind which is like Number 1 Delena fic territory so I started reading it every time I got stuck writing this chapter and it helped a ton. Now honestly, I don't think you'll see any of the GOMM brilliance in this chapter or any chapter but just so you know.**

**Again, your reviews mean the absolute world to me so please please please continue to write them. Good, bad, ugly, I want them ALL. And after some careful plotting, I've realized this story will be done in about 1-2 chapters with an added epilogue if you guys want one. Thank you times a thousand for sticking with me even when I'm not that great. I will be starting my new AU story fairly soon after this is over so be excited for that and I MAY even do a one-shot that's NOT AU. Please, please hold your gasps.**

**Reviews are the clean rugs to my Damon hahahaha :)**

* * *

><p>Chapter 10: Skinny Love<p>

_Come on skinny love, just last the year_

_Pour a little salt, we were never here_

_My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my_

_Staring at the sink of blood and crushed veneer_

"Bait?" Damon repeated questioningly. "What do you-?"

Klaus cut him off quickly, in a bored tone. "What I mean, Damon, is that you and your "special friend" are going to lure Stefan out, provoke him, etc. and then I will come in, snap his neck, and do whatever I want with him. Then you two can… well, that part is up to you. Consider it a gift."

Damon exchanged a glance with Elena who looked about as concerned as Damon felt. "You think it will be that easy?"

"No, actually I don't think it will be that easy. I wouldn't be surprised if there was some collateral damage mixed in somewhere, but I can't think of another way."

"I can," Elena spoke up. Damon was stunned but proud of her bravery in front of Klaus. She began to move from behind Damon. "If you're supposedly so powerful, why do you need us?"

Klaus clucked his tongue. "_Tsk, tsk,_ Elena. Somebody hasn't been listening. I don't want Stefan to run." Klaus ran his finger under her chin. "And I have no doubt your pretty face will convince him to stay."

Elena slapped his hand away. Damon nearly gasped, mouth dropping open a bit in shock. "I don't believe you. I think you could easily take down Stefan… But you're bored. You just want to play a game with us. You know how easily you could catch him at this point. You know his location. You know his weaknesses. So _now_ you just want to up the stakes. You could care less if one of us gets hurt in the process. It's all just for some sick form of pleasure." At that, Elena leaned up to nearly snarl in his face. "Well, I don't want to be your toy, Klaus. No deal."

Klaus looked at her for a few minutes blankly showing no emotion. He stepped around her and stalked towards Damon. He locked their eyes and after a few seconds of silence, his mouth turned in an evil grin. Klaus turned slightly to the right to acknowledge the indignant woman now behind him. Before anyone could predict it, Klaus had whipped his right arm out and mercilessly thrust Elena across the bar. She hit the floor and slid until she hit the wall. Elena desperately wanted to be strong, but she was hit with so much pain all at once that she couldn't help but cry out.

_I tell my love to wreck it all_

_Cut out all the ropes and let me fall_

_My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my_

_Right at the moment this order's tall_

Damon lunged towards her, but Klaus grabbed him and forced his gaze to land on him. "Don't help her, Damon. She's a big girl. She can get up on her own." Damon's muscles, once tensely bent towards Elena, relaxed and he stood straight, but his gaze turned towards her, upset that he wasn't there to help.

Elena was a bit bewildered that Damon would actually follow Klaus' orders but maybe Klaus was much stronger than she thought. Maybe taunting him earlier hadn't been the smartest move. She sluggishly began to get up, but many parts of her were bruised and sore. She was also fairly sure she could smell blood from where her head had hit the wall.

"Nothing's broken, sweetheart," Klaus said impatiently. "I wouldn't want to break my new _toy_ after all." After a few groans, Elena finally got up, glaring at Klaus, but also far more aware of what anger would get her.

"Well, now that we've all gotten our motives and tempers in check, here's what's going to happen," Klaus said switching his gaze back and forth between the two. "You two are going to follow me to Stefan's whereabouts and I'll make sure to stay hidden. Elena will go in to the house, find him, rile him up a bit and distract him, whatever you need to do. Then that's where I'll come in."

"What do I do?" Damon interjected.

"_You_ will stay out of the way," Klaus replied. "I don't particularly care to have you in this round. Is that clear?" Klaus spoke with a sense of finality. He turned his head. "Elena?" She gulped but nodded. As much as she couldn't stand Klaus, she would do whatever it took to have Mary back.

"Well, let's go then," Klaus spun on his heel and began to walk out.

"Wait, this is happening now?" Elena spoke, acutely aware of how tired and hungry she was.

"No, it's not," Damon exclaimed. "This can wait, Klaus. We're dealing with a human. You know they can be… fickle if they aren't properly taken care of." Damon glanced apologetically towards Elena but she understood that to play with Klaus you had to play on his level. "She needs rest. We all do. I know Stefan will stay exactly where he is, at least for the night. We can just as easily do this in the morning."

_And I told you to be patient_

_And I told you to be fine_

_And I told you to be balanced_

_And I told you to be kind_

Klaus smiled, willing to concede on this. "Alright, I could spend a few hours _lounging_." He turned to grab his own key but his smirk came back. He glanced at Damon. "But I have a few _special_ instructions for Damon." Damon gulped nervously and Elena spoke up, concerned. "What do you mean?"

"Elena, I suggest you leave… _now," _Klaus said harshly.

"No," Elena replied firmly.

Klaus let out a breathy laugh. "Damon, please tell your _girlfriend_ to leave." Damon wordlessly turned back towards Elena. "Just… just go, Elena."

Elena cocked her head, upset that Damon didn't trust her to be in the room. She haughtily gathered up her skirt and moved towards the stairs, stomping her feet up them one by one.

_And in the morning, I'll be with you_

_But it will be a different kind_

_'Cause I'll be holding all the tickets_

_And you'll be owning all the fines_

About ten minutes later, Elena was staring at herself in the dusty mirror, lost in thought when she heard a knock on the door. "Come in," she said quietly while rubbing at her collarbone, still a bit sore from her recent encounter with the floor. She looked up to see Damon entering, an expression of discomfort and anguish on his face.

She rushed up to meet him, grasping his hands in hers and examining him for any injuries. "What did Klaus say? Are you alright?" Damon yanked his hands from hers, and moved past her to sit on her bed. Elena stood in disconcerted silence, turning to face him. "Damon?"

"He didn't say anything, Elena," Damon replied harshly. "Just more of the same."

Elena cautiously set herself down next to him. "I'm sorry it has to be like this, Damon." He interrupted her, trying to disagree but she continued. "No, Damon, I mean it. You could have left at any point and you haven't. Now you're dealing with two senseless vampires and a girl who… well, a girl who's rather senseless as well." The smirk she'd been expecting was more pained than she desired. "But you've stuck through in all of this. And I realized tonight that I've never thanked you." She placed her hands lightly on his face and forced him to look at her, an act he'd been avoiding ever since he'd entered. "So… thank you, Damon."

She leaned in, pressing her lips to his. She started it off gently, just meaning for a simple chaste gratitude kiss, but Damon turned it into more. He responded fiercely, opening her mouth and winding his fingers in the hair she'd recently brushed out. She'd only been kissed like this once or twice in her lifetime, by Stefan, and she knew that this progression between her and Damon was much faster than acceptable, but at this point she could care less about standards. Everything she'd ever known had fallen apart under duress, so why not test this one?

She moved her hands to his shoulders and neck and focused all of her attention on his tongue and lips and the way his fingers felt in her hair. She let out a breathy sigh as he pulled away to press open-mouthed kisses onto her neck. All of the stress and anxiety she'd been feeling seemed to melt away as his lips met her skin.

_Come on skinny love, what happened here?_

_Suckle on the hope in light brassiere_

_My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my_

_Sullen load is full, so slow on the split_

His hands moved to push her downwards. She hesitated a bit, but then began to relax into the mattress. Their mouths met again and Damon's hand attached to her waist. At this point, they were both horizontal on the bed. This was definitely new territory for Elena. Stefan had never been alone with her in a bedroom, and even if he had she knew he wouldn't have gone this far. At least, he wouldn't have at the time. But this was Damon. They had both experienced a lot these past few days and doing something that felt good would help the both of them in the task they had to accomplish tomorrow. Besides, Damon would stop before Elena became uncomfortable.

Or maybe not. The hand that had been caressing her waist was now moving slowly upwards towards her chest. Elena's muscles clenched involuntarily. As much as this felt right, she didn't feel comfortable enough to go that far with Damon. She grasped his hand in order to move it upwards to rest beside her head. It only stayed there for a few seconds before making its journey back down to her breasts.

"Damon," she muttered, once he gave her some air to return to her neck again. She again grasped his hand, attempting to intertwine their fingers but he yanked his hand out of her grasp reaching out to grope her. "Damon!" she said more harshly. She forced herself to move out from under him. Damon finally removed his hand but only to trap her underneath him, now kissing her with a bruising force. Elena had no clue what was going on. All she could focus on was that his weight was now causing her to lose her breath. She worked up enough energy to shove him off of her lips to gasp, "Damon, I can't breathe." Suddenly, Damon rushed himself off of her, slamming himself back into the wall.

Elena lay there, staring up at the ceiling whilst trying to catch her breath. Once she had, she slowly pushed herself up onto her elbows to regard the man in front of her. He had his head leaned up against the wall, also panting furiously in an attempt to control his breathing. She wiped her mouth and slowly sat up, moving herself to the edge of the bed. They sat there in silence, the only sound the other's lungs struggling to catch up.

_And I told you to be patient_

_And I told you to be fine_

_And I told you to be balanced_

_And I told you to be kind_

"I can't believe you just did that," Elena said. She regarded him, hoping he would respond in some way but he refused to even look at her. She tried again. "How… far were you planning on going just now?" His breathing had finally slowed, but his head was turned to look out the small dusty window. Tears began to well up in Elena's eyes as the events of the past few minutes began to really settle on her. "I don't know what Klaus did or said downstairs, but it was no excuse for you to act like… like a caveman." She began to get more emotional as she continued. "You are the only person I trust anymore and… it just wasn't like you. I barely recognize you right now." She looked at her shoes, not necessarily expecting a response, but getting one anyway.

"Well, you really won't recognize me now." Elena looked up and inhaled sharply. Damon's face was transformed into its vampiric state. She'd only seen it briefly on Stefan in the house and through her peripheral vision on Klaus in the bar, but seeing it on Damon at this moment made every muscle in her body tighten and her heart beat five times faster.

"Damon, what are you-" Elena stood up, attempting to weave her way around to the other side of her bed while walking backwards. Damon stalked towards her slowly, cutting her off. "I'm hungry and I'm tired and there's no one else in town I can feed from. So just calm down and this will be over with as quickly as possible."

"Damon, stop this. This isn't funny." Elena spoke quickly, her pulse quickening even more. She felt behind her only to realize that she was about to be cornered against a wall. She swiveled her head as quickly as she could, in an attempt to assess if she could get to the door, but turning away turned out to be a mistake. When she turned back, Damon was inches away from her face. There was no leer on his face like Klaus or Stefan, but she could still sense how malevolent his intentions were.

Elena made one last attempt to convince him otherwise, but she knew it was worthless. "Damon," she whined. "_Please_." But the sharp pain at her neck caused the pleas to turn into screeches. She knew that if she fought it, it would only hurt worse. She leaned her head back against the wall, and closed her eyes, allowing the sting to cause her vision to go black.

_And now all your love is wasted_

_Then who the hell was I?_

_'Cause now I'm breaking at the britches_

_And at the end of all your lines_

When he was finally done, he wiped his mouth with his sleeve and examined her. Elena opened her eyes wearily, feeling incredibly weak as all her nerve endings shot pain signals towards her neck. She was once again crying. She choked on her words as she spoke. "I don't even know who you are anymore."

"Well, this is me," Damon said weakly, as though he couldn't believe he was saying it either. He spat, "This is who I am, Lena."

As Elena tried desperately not to faint, Damon's expression changed to one of slight compassion. He ripped part of his sleeve off and handed it to her. She took it hesitatingly, all the while not breaking eye contact with him. She could swear his eyes were coming close to matching her own watery ones. She held the material to the wound on her neck, hoping it would absorb whatever blood was left over. "You called me Lena." Damon's eyebrows furrowed. "I didn't think it was possible for a name to sound like an insult."

Damon didn't say a word. He slowly backed away, turning on her to go sit on the edge of the bed with his back facing her. Elena felt behind her for the door knob and slowly turned it, letting herself out into the hallway. The door had barely closed behind her before she'd slid to the floor and began to sob.

_Who will love you?_

_Who will fight?_

_Who will fall far behind?_

Elena stiffly walked down the hall. Damon had basically signed her death certificate with the amount of blood she'd lost and the size of the wound. Compared to all of the tragedies she'd experienced in the last month, this one stung the most, literally and figuratively. The only person in the world she could depend on had turned on her. She'd lost him in that room. She'd lost her Damon.

She walked slowly down the staircase. Once her tears had slowed, she contemplated where exactly she wanted to die. Not in this dreadful hotel, but the plantation. The plantation where she'd grown up and had experienced much of the good life had to offer. Had she experienced heartbreak there? Yes. But she still couldn't help but to think of the plantation fondly. No matter what, it was still her home.

"Now where do you think you're going, beautiful?" Elena grimaced. She didn't care to have one of her last moments on earth shared with such an awful person. Besides, she knew that she needed to leave now if she was going to be able to make the long walk to the estate.

She was going to continue moving forward but Klaus was already at her side. "Let me see it, sweetheart." When Elena didn't move, he tried again. "Please." She shuddered, the area highly sensitive as she removed the cloth from her neck. "Ouch. Damon always had an issue with making clean bites." He glanced at Elena, locking eyes with her.

"I need to go." Elena mustered up as much bitterness as she could. "If I'm going to die, I'm sure as hell not going to die here."

Klaus gently traced his fingers down her arm, tracing a line of blood. "Where do you want to go?"

Elena sighed, still anxious to leave. "The plantation. I just… would like to die… in the same place I was born."

Klaus stepped aside, letting her continue forward. But before she could move, she heard him say, "It's a shame you won't let me save you. It's a good life you're wasting there."

Elena came to a halt. She didn't turn to face him, instead speaking to the door. "You can save me?"

Klaus approached her, stepping into her line of vision. "Yes, I can." He held up his wrist, a far more controlled bite already below his palm. "If you drink my blood, it will heal you. Unless, that is, you would rather die."

Elena didn't hesitate to respond. "No," she said harshly. She fumbled for his wrist, but he pulled it out of her reach.

"Are you sure about that? You don't really have much to live for. Your family's dead. Both of the men in your life have betrayed you. You have no money, no home. It would be much easier for you to die than live."

"You're wrong," Elena spoke. "I still have Mary."

Klaus sighed. "Yes. You still have Mary."

Elena grasped for his wrist and this time she caught it. She was hesitant to place it on her mouth, but a wave of dizziness reminded her that now was no time to be cautious. She began to swallow Klaus' blood deeply. She didn't care for the taste, but the more she drank the stronger she felt. Klaus took his wrist away once she had had enough and she wiped her mouth on her forearm.

"Thank you," she said quietly.

"You're welcome, love," Klaus said. "Besides, you wouldn't have wanted to go to the plantation." Confusion came over Elena's features. Klaus smirked. "Didn't you know? That's where Stefan is."

Elena's eyes widened. She turned to look at the staircase, thinking of the man that was still up there. He'd been the one that decided they wait. Elena just wanted to get it over with and get to Mary as soon as possible. Plus, after drinking Klaus' blood, she seemed stronger than she'd felt when she'd arrived. "Can we go… now?"

Klaus smirked. "Of course."

_Come on skinny love_

_My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my_

_My, my, my, my, my, my, my, my_

**Wow, that was so suspenseful. I bet you're on the edge of your seat begging me to post the next chapter. *complete and utter sarcasm*. Yes, I'm aware of how obvious all of these "cliffhangers" are but I'm addicted to them so...**

**I'm not incredibly happy with the dialogue in this chapter. It just seemed really ugly and plain and if you've been reading this far, you know I like to challenge myself with words but it just didn't go that well this time. This chapter also felt incredibly short to me even though it's the same length, if not longer, than all the other ones. I also hope you don't mind the amount of POV switching. I tried to keep as Elena-singular as possible, but sometimes I really wanted to show Damon's emotions. I also kinda took a bit of inspiration from the Klaroline scene in 3x11 with that last section, but that's because I'm a hardcore Klaroline fan as well. I love vulnerable Klaus with a passion.**

**For that M rating, YOU WON'T HAVE TO WAIT MUCH LONGER I PROMISE! I tried to give you all a lil T in this chapter to placate your dirty minds... Yes, I'm as much of a tease in real life as I am in writing :P**

**I'm still searching for critiques so please send 'em in. But any and all reviews are heavily appreciated by this mediocre writer. I love love love you all and will post another chapter on Sunday.**


	11. Chapter 11: Dead and Gone and Passed

**I would just like to say upfront how incredibly apologetic I am for this chapter. This is probably the most pivotal one in the story and yet my entire writing brain just shut down this week. I can literally only stand about two paragraphs in this chapter, the rest I hate. So yes I'm sorry that my writing this chapter doesn't meet the high expectations of the plot line. Speaking of plot line, I got incredibly stuck writing this week as I realized I'd made a mistake in an earlier chapter. I won't point it out just in case, but most of you all have probably spotted it. I tried to fix it in this chapter, but I didn't really care for it. Goodness, this is the worst introduction for a chapter ever hahaha.**

**Now, I know for sure that there will be only one more chapter in this story unless you guys want to make it an unlucky number 13 with an epilogue. I would like to warn you that the final chapter may not be posted next Sunday. I'm still working out some kinks of the next one and may not be able to get it up in a week. BUT because you guys are so fabulous, I will instead be sure to post the first chapter of my new story instead to at least give you something. So please please please make sure you've subscribed to my author alert rather than just the story alert so that you can see the new one! I'm really looking forward to writing this one so I hope you guys are looking forward to reading it! Well, on to the chapter!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 11: Dead and Gone and Passed<p>

Elena's breath caught in her throat as she approached the plantation. Every bit of glory and wonder it had once held was now long gone. It was almost unrecognizable. The house was torn apart as though it hadn't been maintained in decades and was completely silent. Not even a bird dared to land close.

Klaus had decided about half a mile back that he had come close enough for the moment. "Stefan will be able to hear you once you get a few more feet. I'll give you the proper amount of time to begin distracting him. I want to enter undetected." Klaus then came only a few inches away from Elena's face and glared at her. "Don't make me regret saving your life, Elena," Klaus whispered.

Elena didn't even blink. "I'm the one who has to trust that you won't use me as a sacrificial pawn. I don't believe you need to be concerned about your trust in _me._" Klaus raised his hands in surrender and backed away, leaning against a tree.

Elena took a deep breath and started to continue down the road until a sudden thought made her heart stop. She slowly turned around towards the vampire behind her. "How did you know about her?"

Klaus looked at Elena with a confused expression. "Pardon me?"

"Neither Damon or I mentioned Mary. How did you know about her when I spoke to you in the lobby?"

Klaus sighed. "You were discussing her when you arrived, Elena. Remember that fantastic vampire hearing?"

Elena slowly nodded, accepting his answer. Before she turned again, she spoke softly, "Good luck, Klaus"

Elena began to walk up the drive when she remembered what Klaus had called after her.

"Elena!" He paused as though questioning if he should speak. "Don't look down once you get there. You'll be sorry if you do."

Although she had a sneaking suspicion that he was right, her curious nature required her to glance at the ground. Elena didn't see anything in her immediate path but suddenly her peripheral vision caught something that made her want to run as far away as possible. Bodies. She felt the bile rise up in her throat. She shot her head up so she wouldn't recognize any of her neighbors but she caught a quick glimpse of the same Parker boy that she'd threatened to run away with.

Once she arrived at the door, she didn't bother to knock. She simply turned the handle and walked inside. The moment she entered, she felt a lump form in her throat. The house was a bleak shell of what it once had been. She was glad that Klaus hadn't let her get as far as the house earlier. She most likely would have killed herself purely out of despair.

The only thing that kept her going was the reminder that her sister was near. She chose to imagine away the ruined house and move forward. But she stopped when her ears caught wind of something that sounded eerily like… music. She didn't dare make a sound, but she held her breath, trying to determine the origin of the notes. It was a familiar tune and her mind placed it quickly: a lullaby. And not just any lullaby but the same one she'd heard every night going to sleep… from her music box.

Elena gulped and slowly headed up the creaking staircase towards the sound. As the music got louder, every fiber of her being began to tense in anticipation for what she was about to find. When the music stopped suddenly, so did Elena. But she heard a winding motion and then the tune started again. Now she knew for sure she was headed towards _someone._

She walked into the room that had once been Mary's. She wouldn't have been able to tell if not for the rocking chair Stefan was now reclining in. He was smirking, staring at the ornate box in his lap.

"Such a shame," he laughed. "It's so beautiful… probably the only beautiful thing left in this house." He looked at her, grinning. "But now that you're here…"

Before Elena could blink, Stefan had slammed the box into the ground at supernatural speed. It shattered into a hundred different pieces, littering the floor along with the other remnants of the house. She knew that he was just trying to scare her, but Elena had a feeling that it was working.

"I was never a fan of lullabies," Stefan began calmly as though his rage hadn't just broken through. "My mother died when I was born so my father always had to be the one to put me to sleep. He was… a horrible singer." He laughed. "But I did always have a fondness for that prayer… what was it?" He stared at her, as though remembering the words was a challenge she was required to take.

Elena shuddered, having trouble finding her voice for a few moments. "Now I lay me down to sleep… I p-pray the Lord my soul to keep…" She gulped. "If I shall die before I wake-"

"I pray the Lord my soul to take," Stefan finished it off, a hint of sarcasm in his tone. "Well, I guess that dream didn't work so well for me, now did it?" He laughed again, cruelly. "… Or for all those people out in the yard."

Elena took a deep breath. She'd played enough games to last a lifetime in the past few days. "Enough, Stefan: Where's Mary?"

Stefan completely ignored her question and instead began to walk towards her. "You know, I apologize for the mess, darling. I'm just _terrible _at cleaning." He was close enough now to touch her cheek. "That is one of the things I missed about having a woman around."

Elena winced under his words and his touch. "I forgot how traditional your values were, Stefan. You always wanted a _pet_ for a wife."

Stefan laughed. "Oh, I could have easily gotten a dog, Lena. But you had something very special that a dog just… couldn't offer." His eyes scanned up and down her body and then locked on the pulse point at her neck. "Well, make that two things."

Elena wanted to kill him in that moment, but she knew she couldn't have even if she tried. "I never thought I'd be thankful that you turned into a monster."

"But your life was so boring, sweetheart. I'm just helping you to have some fun."

"_Fun_?" Elena spat. "Killing everyone I've ever loved is supposed to make my life more _fun_?"

Stefan laughed. "You're looking at it the wrong way, Elena. In fact, I'm offering you a whole new way of life."

"Excuse me?"

Stefan's eyes abruptly changed from their dark coldness to the green compassion she'd grown accustomed to. He spoke delicately and deliberately. "Let me turn you."

Elena cocked her head in confusion for a moment until she realized exactly what he was proposing. "Are you insane?" She moved out from under his hands to distance herself from him.

"I'm trying to help you, Lena," Stefan began.

"No!" Elena finally found her voice, one loud enough to scream. "First of all, you need to stop calling me Lena. You no longer have the right to call me by that name. And secondly, you've taken everything from me and now you want to take my life too?"

"Being a vampire is so much more than death. It's-"

"I know what it is," Elena interjected harshly still completely dazed by his request.

"You have so many more opportunities," Stefan continued in his pitch.

"Like killing people?" Elena shouted. "Is that what you had planned from the very beginning? To marry me and then kill me so we could live forever as vampires? Well then, I guess I should also thank you for ruining that chance by _killing my mother_!"

Stefan was silent, but there was no show of remorse or emotion at all in his eyes. Elena remembered Damon's mention of Stefan turning off his humanity. She hadn't realized how quick it could really be.

Once Elena had calmed down a bit and the room had filled with the silence, she continued. "Did you really think you could lure me here with my sister and turn me? Is it some odd fear of being alone? Because you are, if you haven't realized. Your father left you. Your brother left you. You _killed _your sister."

"Don't worry, he won't be alone." The voice appeared out of thin air, somewhere from behind Stefan. Stefan turned around, long enough to recognize him before Klaus had a rag over Stefan's mouth. Stefan struggled for only a moment before he collapsed on the ground. He was still awake, but he couldn't move. Klaus kicked him in the stomach with a wide grin on his face. "He'll have me."

Klaus then turned to acknowledge the trembling woman on the other side of the room. "Thank you darling, for the distraction. Who knew a man could still hold on to that much humanity that he couldn't even kill his former fiancée the moment she walked in?"

Elena gulped, realizing the risk she'd been taking that Klaus had been fully aware of. But a small sense of calm began to fill her bones as she realized it was almost over. Almost. "You're welcome."

"What did you do to me?" Stefan coughed out, still distorted on the floor.

"Just the impeccable combination of vervain and a spell to keep you conscious but paralyzed with an exorbitant amount of pain, my dear friend," Klaus replied cheerfully. "Oh, how rude of me." Klaus bent down to Stefan's level and patted him on the back. "We haven't officially met. I'm Klaus."

Stefan groaned as though a new wave of pain had shot through him. "I know who you are."

"As do I, Stef, but I was just trying to be polite," Klaus smirked. He came back up to Elena's level and began digging through his pockets. "You, love, are free to go." He pulled out a matchbox and ran the small wooden object across so that it lit up in flame. Elena quickly realized exactly what he was doing.

"Klaus, no!" Elena yelled.

"We need to destroy the evidence," Klaus replied nonchalantly. "I'm sorry to disappoint you, but the home you once knew is long gone. It would be better for everybody if this place burned to the ground."

"I don't care about the house," Elena quickly replied, although a twinge in her stomach told her otherwise. "But Mary is still in here!" Elena saw out of the corner of her eye Stefan smirking as though he'd won.

"Elena, how cruel do you think I am?" Klaus spoke calmly, blowing out the match that had been rapidly burning. "Mary's been at the hotel since I arrived. She's been knocked out for a while, but I alerted Damon to her presence while you were busy _distracting_ so she's in good hands."

Elena was shocked that she'd been that close to her sister, but more than anything confused. "Then why did you involve me in all of this?"

Klaus sidled up to the girl. "Like you said earlier, I was bored. Besides," Klaus suddenly had a tone of compassion just as Stefan had had earlier. "You remind me of someone I used to know very well. I was just curious to see how much you too were really alike."

The rage Elena had been building up for days was finally released as she slapped Klaus square across the face. She watched for his reaction, but after a moment, he simply began to laugh and turned back to Stefan. "I guess I deserved that. Not that it hurt, mind you. Well, moving on; let's start a fire, shall we?" Klaus lit another match but Elena stopped him again.

"Wait, are you going to let me leave?"

Klaus sighed, as though he was talking to a child. "Yes, Elena, feel free to leave. I'm not planning on causing that much damage tonight."

Elena cautiously passed by both men and reached the door frame, but turned back around. Klaus, frustrated, blew out the second match while Stefan continued to groan. "What is it now, Elena?"

Elena gulped, obviously overstaying her welcome. "You said Mary's with Damon?"

"Yes?"

"Is she… is she safe with him?"

Klaus looked confused for a moment then began to laugh loudly. "Oh Elena, I am so sorry. I forgot I didn't let you in on the other part of the game. Damon overlooked telling you about the fact that an Original can compel a vampire."

"Excuse me?" Elena said, all of the information she'd been learning in the past few weeks now muddled together in her brain.

"Don't you recall my having 'special instructions' for Damon?"

"_Petulant girl, that one," Klaus said, smiling. He began to pace the floor. "Oh, Damon, Damon, Damon. Don't you know better than to not wear vervain? You don't know when a pesky Original could come by with a desire to mess with your mind."_

_Damon growled. He wanted to chase after Elena, but Klaus had already thrown "no movement" into the mix. "My apologies. It's been a bit difficult to ingest vervain with all of this moving around."_

"_Oh, don't apologize to me," Klaus smiled. "I'm delighted in your forgetfulness. It makes things much more fun for me." Klaus cocked his head towards the stairs that Elena has just ascended. "Does she know?" Damon gritted his teeth and shook his head back and forth. Klaus clapped his hands together, as though he were a giddy boy told he could pick any candy he wanted. "This is just getting too easy. Oh and by the way, you're not allowed to tell her." Damon cursed under his breath, as that compulsion had been locked in as well._

"_Now, let's get to those 'instructions,' shall we?" Klaus made sure to grab Damon's shoulders, forcing him to pay attention. "As much as I love this burgeoning romance I'm sensing here, I don't care to have it get in the way of our plans. Too much protect me, save me, for my taste. So, tonight, I want you to start a little quarrel. Forget all of the gentlemanly etiquette you've been taught. In fact, I want you to feed on her. You're incredibly thirsty and tonight that sweet, delicious blood is going to sound even better than it already does pumping through her veins. You will not heal her afterwards, either. And remember, our rule: no tattle tales allowed." _

_Klaus was almost done, but he left one final demand. "Tomorrow, if Stefan does anything to hurt her, which I suspect he will, you won't take a step inside that house. No matter how much she screams your name, begging for your help, you will stay put outside." Klaus patted his hands on Damon's shoulders and headed towards the door. "Goodnight. Well, as good a night as you'll be able to have." Damon heard Klaus' faint laughter as he walked out._

"Why would you do that?" Elena was appalled by his blatant disregard for her safety.

"Because I felt like it, Elena," Klaus replied coldly. "And if you haven't figured it out yet, I do whatever I want whenever I want to because I have that kind of power."

"You're disgusting," Elena spoke bitterly. "I can't believe you would do that to him!"

"He seemed more than open to it the last time."

Elena paused. "The last time?"

"Oh yes, love," Klaus smirked. "Actually, thank you for bringing this up. I thought this might help to rile up some of that eternal guilt I'm dying for Stefan to feel. When Stef decided he wanted to be a ripper a few decades ago, I was around, following him, tracking his moves. You were much harder to catch back then."

"Now Damon heard about my plans to eradicate his baby brother and suddenly became very sacrificial. Offered himself to me as a… friend of sorts. He was required to do exactly as I say for _years_. He asked me to compel him so that he wouldn't have to deal with that annoying conscience and I agreed, but I threw a new clause into the agreement. I compelled him so that he couldn't tell anyone. He couldn't tell his family why he left them, which is why I assume they disowned him. When Lexi accidentally found out, I gave the same order to her."

Klaus knelt down to his prisoner's level. "But now that you're back on the ripper track and I'm bored of your older brother, I decided it was time you actually live out your sentence. I'm glad I could clear the air on the whole neglectful brother situation though."

Elena couldn't even find any words harsh enough for Klaus in that moment. His mission might have been right, but his ways of following through were all wrong. Before she left the plantation for one last time, she glanced at the man she had once loved, lying on the floor and she noticed that there were a few tears falling down his face. Apparently his humanity hadn't been that far underneath the surface. As she left, she whispered a goodbye she knew only a vampire could hear.

As she walked out of her old home, the tears began to spill down her own face as the reality of everything hit her. She was done. Well, as done as she could be. Stefan was no longer a threat and she had her sister back. But a vast new world lay before her. She still had nothing.

Once she reached the street, she paused for a moment and turned back to the house. It had engulfed into flames much faster than she thought it would. It was both dishearteningly horrific and beautifully enthralling. Hundreds of flashes of memory passed through her brain as she realized that the old Lena Marie Gilbert was dead. She was burning right along with the estate.

But she understood as she walked down the dirt road that she had gained through this experience. She'd learned of another realm that had been right under her nose this entire time: a supernatural one. A realm filled with vampires and witches and compulsion and strengths and immorality. A realm she wasn't even close to done learning about.

She'd also never felt stronger in her entire life. She'd faced almost every single horrible thing a person could face and she hadn't fallen. Instead, she'd stayed strong, facing every fear and anxiety head on. She'd lived and she'd survived. She'd done far more than any woman would ever do. She knew that although not every day in her new life would be great or even good, she would never again experience anything as terrible as this. The thought brought the smallest of smiles to her face.

But the smile quickly faded when she thought back on the man that was waiting for her at the hotel. Damon Salvatore. She thought of their fight at the lake where she hadn't realized he _physically couldn't_ tell her where he'd gone for all those years. She thought of his actions the night before, the ones that had almost killed her, that he'd had no control over. She remembered how angry and hurt she'd been, and realized she no longer had to be. The man at that hotel was still Damon Salvatore. The same one that had rescued her and taken her and her sister to that small house in the woods. The same one that had taken care of Mary when Elena had been bedridden. The same one that had kissed her in the water. The same one that had held her when she cried in the street.

Elena's footsteps quickened to a full run as she realized she hadn't lost everything. She hadn't lost Damon.

_I remember tears streaming down your face_

_When I said, "I'll never let you go"_

_When all those shadows almost killed your light_

_I remember you said, "Don't leave me here alone"_

_But all that's dead and gone and passed tonight_

_Don't you dare look out your window darling_

_Everything's on fire_

_The war outside our door keeps raging on_

_Hold onto this lullaby_

_Even when the music's gone_

**Well, how bad was it? Gosh, I was just not a fan of this chapter. I know I left you guys with some really obvious cliffhangers last chapter that the majority of you all guessed in the reviews.**

**I would like to thank you all for your wonderful support with this story. I know that I would have never never never continued this story past the first chapter without the fabulous reviews and alerts you've provided me with. You will all be getting the reward you've been so desperately seeking next chapter (I think you all know what I mean ;P). I heard through the grapevine there were some issues with FF this week and you guys got like 3 different emails from me so I apologize. **

**PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE subscribe to my author alerts so that you can see my new story just in case I don't upload the last chapter of this story next Sunday. And also, as always, reviews are 100 percent appreciated.**

**Love love love :)**


	12. Chapter 12: Can't Take My Eyes Off You

**Wow. So we've officially reached the end of S&S. I've been absolutely blown away by your support and love with my first fanfic and I couldn't be more grateful. Every review and alert made me want to break down in tears. If you read this story, then you should know that I was 100% writing this for you. I have no desire to write purely for my own sake. I just wanted to share another story using characters we all adore and love. The only thing I could think to do to partially repay you was to make the fic much longer than it normally is so voila!**

**You all have waited patiently for this chapter and I'm sure you all know what's happening in _this scene_. Now, I do need to share with you a large disclaimer. I did not write the _scene_ in the end of this fic. I knew that this story needed a _scene_ that would blow you away and I realized fairly early on that I couldn't provide that for you. I battled between continuing to write the fic myself or giving you what you deserved which was a beautifully written scene where D&E finally come together. So I enlisted the help of one of my absolute favorite writers on here, mrs[ . ] salvatore39. She writes nearly flawlessly and I was honored to have her write the last part of this fic. So to clarify, I've written all the way up until _the song lyrics are in bold_. That's where she came in. I only added the last two "paragraphs" of this chapter. (I really don't need to mark it because it's pretty obvious where she came in: it's where the writing gets good :P)**

**I can understand if this upsets you. If you're incredibly desperate to read my own take at writing smut, you can read Walk Away, but I promise you'll be a lot more satisfied with this scene than any I can write. So please know that I'll be happy to take reviews based off of the first half but I don't feel comfortable taking credit for the incredible writing of the second.**

**Now that we've got that settled, on to the final chapter of S&S:**

* * *

><p>Chapter 12: Can't Take My Eyes Off of You<p>

_And so it is__  
><em>_Just like you said it would be__  
><em>_Life goes easy on me__  
><em>_Most of the time_

As Elena neared the hotel, she began to tremble with anticipation. She knew seeing Mary again would be an instant relief. But her thoughts of seeing Mary were quickly interrupted by the man that was leaning against the door frame of the hotel, looking anxiously at the sky. Elena stopped dead in the road, overcome with the calming effect simply his appearance had on her.

Damon's eyes wandered a bit before he landed on her. His eyes matched her elation but he also looked extremely hesitant. Elena's face lit up the second their eyes met and she grabbed her skirt to race towards him at full speed. When she reached him, she flung herself at him, her arms clinging to his neck. Damon, in shock, slowly wrapped his own arms around her waist but tightened after recognizing just how close he'd been to losing her.

Elena didn't want to move but she knew her speech would be muffled if she spoke into his shoulder. She thanked the gods that Damon's hearing would allow her to stay wrapped up in him for a few more moments. "It's over. It's over," she murmured over and over again.

"Shh," Damon whispered. He slowly pulled back from Elena to look her in the eye. "Elena, we need to talk."

"Why?" Elena asked with fear instantly clouding her vision, terrified that there could be more.

"I am so sorry for what I did to you last night," Damon began. "I have absolutely no excuse for my actions and I understand if you never want to see me again but I just need you to know-"

"No, no," Elena interjected. "No, Damon, Klaus told me. He told me everything." Damon's cocked his head in confusion as Elena's grin grew wider. "He told me about what he did to you last night. He told me about what you did for Stefan all those years ago. I know now and – god, I didn't lose you." Elena threw herself back into his chest once again and Damon accepted it much more willingly this time. "You're still _Damon_." She pulled back again after a bit and placed her hand delicately on her cheek, their smiles matching each other. She leaned in to kiss him but suddenly heard the sharp shriek of a familiar little girl.

"Damon! I want to keep playing Castle. Where did you go?"

_And so it is__  
><em>_The shorter story__  
><em>_No love, no glory__  
><em>_No hero in her skies_

Elena and Damon both let out their first genuine laugh in days. As though Damon were reading her mind, he whispered, "Go, Elena. She misses you."

Elena looked at the door than back at Damon. She settled for kissing him on the cheek and then bounding inside. She looked through all the rooms but quickly found the girl sitting on the floor in the salon pouting. Mary was so caught up in her frustration that she didn't notice her older sister enter. Elena laughed. "Do you mind if I play with you instead?"

Mary whipped her head around, all signs of sulking gone. "Ellie!" she screamed and raced at her sister similar to Elena earlier.

"Oh, honey, did Stefan hurt you? Are you okay?" Elena murmured into her sister's dark curly hair.

"No, he was just mean. But I think he was only scared."

"You're very right. Stefan's always been scared."

Elena gripped her sister tightly as her eyes began to tear up. Mary was the only true family she had left in this world and she vowed never to let her go. She vowed that she would keep that little girl safe and sound until her last breath. She would educate her and continue her mother's teachings that a female could be strong. Maybe she wouldn't be as privileged as Elena had been, but if Elena was still alive, Mary would grow up well.

Elena sensed the presence behind her and she turned her head slightly to regard Damon. He was smiling just as much as she was. Mary abruptly darted out of Elena's arms to the middle of the room and began to rapidly talk about her perspective of all of the events that had occurred. As she babbled, Elena noticed that Mary had been cleaned and fully dressed. Elena reached behind her to grab Damon's hand and hold it in her own. She had learned that his skin was typically cool, so the warmth of his hand was surprising. She turned her head and mouthed, "Thank you." He smiled and mouthed back, "You're welcome."

Elena turned back to her sister who was now exaggeratedly tapping her foot with her arms crossed over her chest. "You stopped listening to me!" she accused.

"That's because it's time for you to go to bed." As Mary began to groan in resistance, Elena picked the girl up and began to walk towards the stairs. "You've had a long couple of days. I think it's time you got some sleep. And then tomorrow you can tell us every detail, alright?" Elena set the girl at the bottom of the stairs and watched her whine and stomp her way to the top. Once she reached the top and was out of sight, Elena turned back to Damon.

"Meet me in my room." Elena ascended the stairs smiling, leaving a gaping man behind her.

_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes..._

Elena took a deep breath as she approached her room. She slowly turned the knob and entered. It was dimly lit, but she could still see Damon sitting in one of the chairs on the opposite side. She smiled at him and closed the door as he rose from his position.

"How is she?" Damon asked, referring to Mary.

"Fine," Elena replied. "She kept saying over and over again how she was wide awake, but the second her head hit the pillow…"

Damon chuckled lightly. A somewhat uncomfortable silence filled the air as Elena regarded Damon's near flawless features. The plans she'd had entering the room were quickly fading as she noticed his nervous expression.

"May we talk, Elena?" Her heart nearly stopped. Suddenly, realization flooded over her.

"You're leaving." Elena didn't make the statement a question. Of course he was. How could she have been so foolish? He had no ties to her or to Mary. He'd simply helped them get back on their feet. Now that Stefan was out of the way, he had nothing there for him, especially with Lexi being dead. Tears filled her eyes instantly as she realized that she was losing Damon.

"Elena, I just think we need to talk." Elena nodded her head slowly, sitting down on the bed and not meeting his gaze.

Damon cleared his throat. "Elena, so much has happened over the past few weeks. You've gone through so much more than any person should have to experience, especially someone as incredible as you. And now that some of the dust has settled, you have a lot of decisions to make." Damon meandered to the bed and sat down next to her. "Those decisions involve Mary… but they also involve me."

Elena gulped down the lump in her throat, still unable to respond. "You are so resilient; so much I believe you're even better at it than I am. You can do so much without any help. Now, I understand if you want to start fresh. I can help you and Mary find a home. I can provide you with some financial support, as much as you need and then I can just as easily disappear." Elena's head whipped up at his statement, but he continued. "I could even… I could make you forget. I could make you forget all of this and-"

"No!" Elena nearly screamed. Damon's eyes widened in alarm as Elena's breathing began to match her panic. "I don't want to forget all of this. I _can't_ forget this. Yes, it was painful and horrific but it changed me and I can't just ignore that." Elena stood up, frantically pacing and pointing at Damon. "And you can't leave me by myself. A young woman taking care of her sister alone! We wouldn't last a month, regardless of how much 'financial support' you gave us. And about that! You think you can just come into my life and… and mess it all up and think that you can leave without consequence just by giving us money? You're insane."

"_I_ messed it all up?" Damon stood up, quickly becoming as furious as she was. "I've been running like a chicken with its head cut off, desperate to make sure that _you_ were okay and that _you_ were happy. But of course, it's my fault that you decided to get engaged to a psychopath!"

"That's not what I'm talking about, Damon! You messed up everything because…" Elena abruptly stopped that train of thought. She gulped back the words she was about to say and looked down at her feet. The only sound for a few moments was their heavy breathing.

"Tell me, Elena." Damon's voice had calmed considerably, but he was still deliberate in his intentions.

Elena bit her lip and tucked some stray hairs behind her ear. "You messed up everything I've ever believed in." She regarded Damon cautiously, anxious to see what his response to her statement was. He looked confused and rightfully so, but she also saw something in the back of his eyes that looked like a glimmer of hope.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean… Everything I've ever known has been shattered and no, the majority of it hasn't been your fault but you still messed it all up. I wasn't supposed to like you. You hurt my fiancé and his family. You flirted with me, even though I was engaged to your brother." She slowly wandered closer to Damon. "I definitely wasn't supposed to fall for you. All of the standards and customs that come along with love these days; it's like a business venture. If you were ever going to even be in my life, there are rules and obligations and courting and marriage. But not just simple, unabashed…" Elena choked on the last word, unable to say it aloud. "And most of all, I'm not supposed to feel safe with you. You're a vampire. A monster, the same kind that I've only heard of in stories or fairytales. The kind I should be running away from, rather than towards. My future is so insecure and I'm terrified of doing this alone. And it's not that I _can't_ do it alone, but that I don't _want_ to do it alone. The idea in and of itself scares me… But the second I'm in your presence, I instantly feel like I'm going to be okay."

They were now only inches from the other. Elena's breathing was shallow, shocked by her confession. She noticed that Damon's breath matched her own. She sighed as she watched the same strand of hair she'd tucked back earlier fall in front of her eyes. But Damon moved his hands up so that he could push it back for her. Elena's shock wore off and she was quickly consumed by the embarrassment of the situation. Damon chuckled as her cheeks turned red.

"Hey," Damon pulled up her chin to make sure she was looking directly at him. "I never wanted to leave you. I just… want to make sure I didn't force myself into a life that I wasn't wanted in."

"You know you're wanted Damon."

"Then you need to know that you're not losing me."

**_And so it is__  
><em>_Just like you said it should be__  
><em>_We'll both forget the breeze__  
><em>_Most of the time_**

The air thickened between them as Damon pulled her into his arms. He was hard and strong and comforting and safe. She had been feeling scared and lost for so long, and all this time, all she'd needed was to be in Damon's arms. He kissed her like it was his last day on earth, held her like he was moments from being executed. Everything was intense, every emotion epic, every touch unyielding. He made her relax, enough to feel the burning passion threatening to rip through her. It was clear to both of them, at least to her what was about to happen. What had been written by fate to happen since the moment they'd shared in the library. Her upbringing left her completely innocent, even with Stefan living in her family home as her fiancé she'd done little more than sneak into his room once. And that had never gone past kissing.

Being with Damon, surrounded by Damon was so much more different. She could feel the heat from him radiating off like a sun, melting her fears and any unknowns. Their mouths broke apart as she fought for breath, her chest heaving against his. He pressed his forehead against hers, looking deep into her eyes and listening to the erratic beatings of her heart. This could go one of two ways, and he knew it. He could tear her dress from her and join their bodies within moments, but he knew that was not the way she deserved to be loved. It was not the way that she deserved her first time to be, and he would not take something from her that she was not willing to give. He needed the words, needed her permission and only then would he take her and show her just how sweet a monster could be. Show her just how much humanity still resided behind the fangs and the vamped out eyes.

Slowly, he turned her around so she was facing away from him. She caught her reflection in the mirror, her flushed skin and her hair that was already turning wild. His fingertips brushed against the back of her neck, pushing her hair to one side. She gasped slightly when his cool lips pressed to the side of her throat, her back stiffening when she felt his fingers working the strings of her dress open. To get them both to the state of undress they would need to be for anything incredible to happen, it would take some doing. Fortunately, her many layers of dress that normally accompanied the ladies fashion had dwindled on her due to the fact that they'd been moving around.

When he had loosened the corset all the way down, her bare back was revealed to him. Damon knelt behind her, pressing kisses to the newly exposed flesh and for once she didn't mind the fact that she'd been walking around without a chemise. "Make love to me Damon." She whispered, blushing further at her own forwardness.

"I'm working on it." He teased, standing slowly to kiss up the length of her spine before turning her face and meeting her lips again. She let her fingers thread through his hair, holding them in this position. Her neck strained as it tried to reach him, but she didn't care.

_And so it is__  
><em>_The colder water__  
><em>_The blower's daughter__  
><em>_The pupil in denial_

A sound between a growl and a moan slipped from his mouth before he hooked his fingers in the neckline of her dress and tugged it further down over her breasts. She'd almost expected him to be rough like the night that Klaus had compelled him, but he shocked her with his gentleness. His lips were soft like she remembered, his scent intoxicating and his touch sent shivers down her spine. He watched mesmerized in the mirror as the fabric fell away from her chest and shoulders, pooling at her waist. His eyes feasted over the bare skin, parts of her body that no man had seen before. She turned to face him, her eyes shy in the moment of almost complete nakedness.

"Are you alright?" he whispered, slipping his finger under her chin to bring her gaze up to his. She nodded slowly, her bottom lip trapped between her teeth. Damon wasn't sure if it was the vampire or the man inside him that responded to her action, but either way it made him want her more. He suddenly ached to feel her naked skin against his, to feel every inch of their bodies pressed together. When he brought her hand to the first button of his shirt, she surprised him by not hesitating. When they were undone and the shirt hung open at his sides she unashamedly raked her gaze over his chest and stomach.

"You're beautiful." She said quietly, pressing her palms to either side of his waist. He didn't know what to say in response, for no one had ever called him that. She sunk to her knees, her dress still around her hips. Her lips left burns on his body where they touched, but he relished in the pleasure. He wanted her so badly, wanted to be with her in every way possible, but now that he had her there was suddenly no reason to rush. She fumbled as she removed his belt, proving to him only further how innocent she was in all of this. Gently, he pulled her up to face him, stepping away from his pants.

She had her eyes squeezed shut tightly, little lines scrunched in the corners as she tried to convince herself not to look. He chuckled quietly, smoothing the lines with his thumbs. "It's not like I'm not admiring you."

"I know." Her hands were shaking slightly, and she had to take a deep breath before she could open her eyes. "This is all new to me."

"I know." Damon smiled comfortingly, sweeping her hair back from her face. "What can I do to make you more comfortable?"

"I'm not sure." She wanted to cover her chest with her arms, but that would mean she would have to stop touching him.

Damon looked around the room for anything, and spotted the candle. The room was already dim, but the allusion of further darkness might help her relax. Carefully, he bent down and blew the flame out. Almost at once her body relaxed further into his hands. She murmured a thank you, stepping back from him slightly. He watched, nearly mesmerized as she shimmed her skirts down her legs and stepped free from the confines of her day dress. He wanted to tell her she was beautiful, that she was the most marvelous thing he'd ever seen, but he couldn't. He couldn't speak, and it was a good thing he didn't need to breathe for he was sure he wouldn't be able to do that either. Moving carefully, hoping that he wouldn't scare her, he stepped closer again.

Her eyes screamed that she was ready, the scent of her arousal and the beats of her heart telling him to go further, but she was still trembling slightly. Yes, he would definitely have to take this slow. Damon picked her up and gently set her at the head of the bed, climbing in next to her and worshipping her body, first with his eyes, then his lips, then his hands. Hard hands rested against slim hips, only to tighten possessively as he brought her bare skin against his. Her lips parted slightly, anticipating whatever would come next as he settled onto the mattress next to her. He watched her nipples peak and harden, watched her skin turn to a prickle of goose bumps as he moved further down; first over her stomach and down to her hips.

_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my eyes...__  
><em>_Eyes..._

Her pulse quickened as his fingers began to move faster, the rush of her blood calling to him as he settled between her thighs, kissing over her stomach and hips. He wanted to devour every inch of her body, love every part of her. "Damon." She moaned his name, her thighs tightening instinctively around him, hoping to hold him in place. He'd barely begun to show her the wonderful pleasures of love, and she was already begging for it to be over. How could he love her the way she deserved when her tone and her body was so clearly begging for him to move faster? Time, he would have enough of that for eternity to show her just how incredible life with him could be, and once this night was over he would be able to prove to her that over and over again. Her fingers ran over his shoulders, felt the strong muscles in his back as he pulled her tight against him. He loved her touch, craved it, needed it and lost a little more control in enjoying it.

_Oh, did I say__  
><em>_That I loathe you?__  
><em>_Did I say__  
><em>_That I want to leave it all behind?_

She fought air into her lungs as he worked his kisses over her breasts, groaning as she wrapped her legs around his hips and rubbed against him. Each minute passed and made it harder for him to resist being inside her. He had to be careful, especially now. She was human, she was a virgin and he was a monster filled with lust, blood lust and more passion than any man she could have encountered in a dozen lifetimes. She was trembling, but not because she was scared. That at least comforted him. She was as affected with love and need as he was, and that made things a little bit easier on him. "Are you ready?" he whispered, pressing a few kisses to her throat, then finding her lips.

"Yes." She sounded far away, almost as if she was speaking from the hall, but he realized it was because the sound of her heart beating was so loud in his ears, the rush of her blood was calling to him so desperately that he couldn't focus on her the way he should be.

Forcing the monster within him back into its cage, he took an unneeded deep breath and settled their bodies to the appropriate angles. She froze beneath him for a moment, her eyes closed tightly again and he considered pulling away. But then her eyes opened, and she looked straight at him. Their connection hit me like an arrow through his heart and he knew everything was going to be alright. With control he wasn't sure existed, he slid into her slowly, painfully carefully; allowing each muscle the chance to adjust to each other. She trembled, her hands wrapping around his arms for support as he pressed further into her. The moment they were joined was like magic.

As their lips met again, he kept his eyes open for a moment longer than hers, watching her relax into his hold, under him as he leaned over and slid into her again. She gasped, giggling slightly when one of his hands flattened against her hip, groaning as he did. She tightened around him instinctively, stretching slightly before clenching as he began to thrust. Her heart hammered in her chest as she clung to him, ran her fingers through his hair, framed his face, and caressed his chest. She couldn't get enough of him, couldn't get enough of the feeling of being whole. She clung to him, for life, for love, for stability. He'd always been there for her, a rock to hide behind or protect her.

He was the one that saved her, the one that she saved. They moved as one, breathed as one…and then they came as one. They nearly crashed together, their mutual orgasms splitting reality for a moment as their already tight bond strengthened. They rode out the final sensations, falling together in a tangle of sweaty limbs and breathless grins.

_I can't take my mind off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my mind off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my mind off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my mind off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my mind off of you__  
><em>_I can't take my mind...__  
><em>_My mind__. __My mind..._

The memory of tonight would not be tarnished; it would be recalled and attempted again. She would make sure of it. She would make sure that this man before her, the one that gave her such pleasure, filled her with such love, knew how special he was. She would spend the rest of her life making sure he knew just how much she appreciated his love, and how real her return of emotions was.

As Elena snuggled deeper into Damon's chest, she wanted to tell him in words how she felt. But as she opened her mouth to speak, he tightened his grip on her.

"Shh…" he murmured. "Just close your eyes." _  
><em>

**So? Is she not incredible? God, when she sent me this scene I almost died. It was exactly what I wanted. (Btw, if you aren't aware of 39, getcho act together and go RIGHT NOW)**

**I hope you guys enjoyed this story as much as I did. I love you all and please leave your final reviews! **

**And for those of you that just can't get enough of my writing, 1) get tested :P and 2) go read Walk Away!**


End file.
